Shattered
by SinsofOne
Summary: Rei didn't care to be a huntsman. She really didn't. They weren't around to save her parents from slaughter, they weren't around to save her from the grimm, they weren't around to pull her away from a life of blood, sweat, and tears. So of course, life was going to pull a dick move and make her a huntsman at Beacon Academy. "I am suffering."
1. Chapter One: A Fracture

**AN**

**Hello and welcome all to _Shattered, _a RWBY story. This is my first official story on Fanfiction and while I am interested and eager to make a long term story for you all to enjoy, I'm not exactly up to par with my writing skills. I've tried once before utilizing Word in high school, but let's just say my grammar was... shit. Not that it's perfect now. This first chapter is a test, shall we say, please let me know in reviews/pm what I should focus my improvements on, I don't mind criticism and all. From there, I hope to improve at the same time I'm delivering, hopefully, a great story for you lot to enjoy. Please note that I don't plan on my chapters being this short, I want to set up a goal (ideally at least) of putting out 6-10k worded chapters per every other week, or faster should I have the time. Also, I'm interested in a beta-reader/co-author (again, my writing isn't far from being piss poor) so if any of you are interested, be sure to let me know! Anyway, onto the story. **

**_Chapter One_**

Rei hissed when the harsh foliage cut into her legs, the forest passing just as steadily as the building lactic acid in her body. Her heart thundered in her eyes, drowning out most other noise as she fearfully snapped her eyes to her rear. A pair of glowing eyes was fast approaching, attached to a white mask that contrasted with the black abyss-like body of the beowolf currently bounding after her. Its speed far surpassed her own, and she was already stumbling into exhaustion from the It wouldn't be long now. The only reason why she was even alive was thanks to her agility and endurance as child who often ran throughout the day to escape her demons. Just like now. Except this particular time, Rei was running from what essentially _was_ a demon.

Her aura wasn't unlocked. Not that children usually do, mind you, but Rei cursed the fact that one was incredibly vulnerable to most of the world of Remnant without it. Had it been unlocked, Rei would bet _all _of her rations that surviving at the moment would be a hell of a lot easier.

But, even as swift as she was, Rei was a child of only eight. The majority of her body wasn't at all developed like her runner's legs were and even they could only help her keep away from the tailing grimm for so long. She was an orphan, not so much malnourished but definitely not up to par of defending herself adequately. Granted, she was tougher than most children, but therin lied the key. She was a _child._

_"No!" _Rei yelped, reacting too late as she tripped face-first into the soft dirt and grass. Blinking away the stinging in her eyes, Rei clutched onto the shining crisp blades that was the grass under the moonlight and tried to turn around.

Five lines of fire raked across her back. The pain erupted a furious red behind her eyes, a stifled scream of agony escaping her throat as Rei's body was roughly tossed into an oak. So hard in fact, she could have sworn with her barely maintained lucidity that her spine cracked something fierce.

Before gravity could even finish pulling her down to the ground, vicious claws wrapped around her throat and pinned her into the trunk. Rei blinked away tears as darkness creeped in around her vision. Her lungs burned even more now, now being outright deprived of the oxygen they desperately needed. Losing conscious was quickly approaching inevitable. How long could the brain survive without oxygen? Three minutes? Five? Rei held grim amusement despite the situation. Of all the times to pull random tidbits of vital information, not that it could help her, nor would it matter since that route implied, at best, that her heart stopped and for whatever reason the beowolf didn't kill her outright in the first place.

As her hands fell limp, she pricked one of her fingers against one of the large pieces of fractured oak around her. Immediately a spark ran all along her body, her eyes snapping wide open as whatever little strength she had remaining returned with the slow crawl of a realization.

The beowolf snarled, dark spittle peppering Rei's face as its maw neared to finish the deed. As aggressive as it was, the beowolf was just like any other grim. It wanted to hunt. To rend. To consume. It was drawn to every source of aura, unlocked or not, and negative emotions. Rei suppressed a shudder upon seeing the baleful red eyes up close. If the thing had pupils, she'd imagine they'd be dilated as all hell with how much negativity she exuded.

And it was probably thanks to the upfront negativity she radiated that the beowolf didn't take notice of a hand clenching tightly around a large splinter of oak, the weakened wood creaking quietly as it was wriggled free with the last few fibers of its form snapping from the trunk.

The beowolf howled as Rei drove the sharp end of oak into one of its eyes. She was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, the girl groaning in muted agony while the beowolf scrambled madly on the grass and pawed at the new entity within its eye socket.

Rei, with her body screaming in protest, pulled herself up against the tree's base. Weakly regarding the stunned beowolf with a grimace, Rei gritted her teeth as the wounds on her back flared angrily--open slash wounds rubbing against oakwood didn't mesh well. The pain helped clear her muted senses, chest heaving as she took in much needed air while her vision gradually returned to normal.

Meanwhile, the beowolf had pulled out the offending extremity in its eye with an enraged guttural rumble of a growl. Its focus tunnel-visioned onto Rei and, perhaps showing a hint of sentience that most grimm lacked entirely, the beowolf decided to slowly approach her as their eyes met. The beowolf shook its head to and fro every so often, likely due to the shock of a sudden lack of depth perception. Rei glared at the towering beast, the abomination easily dwarfing her respectable above average (for an eight year old girls at least) height of 4'7" with its burly 7'2".

"...C-Crippled by a little girl...Pathetic."

As if it knew she was saying, the beowolf let loose another enraged snarl before tearing across the distance that lay between them, throwing its body at a final bound at the defenseless dying girl so that it may finally be rid of her.

As those deadly claws began closing in, all Rei can muster was hate. _Immeasurable _hate.

Rei hated the fact that life was against her from the very start. She hated that it took away her mother and father in the slaughter just outside Shion Village. She hated that her daily chores consistent of stealing from those of the more fortunate in order to survive, whether it'd be food, water, or lien. She hated that no one would ever notice her absence if she died here and now to this beowolf. She hated _the world. _

_Nothing _ever went well in her life. And now, it seemed like life was weary of her just as she was with it. It had beaten her black and blue, bloody, and now expected her to roll over and pathetically resign to death. Like a pampered noble of Anima.

... _No._

Time seemed to slow for Rei, all sound muted save for the beating of her own heart. Those claws seemed so far away now, her vision a blur as a strange sense of serenity flushed her body. It was not exactly pleasurable, neither was it painful at all. In fact, said serenity turned into a sudden _rush _and had it not been for the fact she was slumped against the tree, she would have fallen over from the shock alone.

Sensations previously never felt before assaulted her being all at once. _What is this... I feel... _Rei felt more in tune with the nature around her, and much more aware of the thrum of life that flowed in and out the trees, the grass, flowers, the very air itself--_everything. _And as unfamiliar as it was, the girl realized that she had known from the start of her life. True _life. _Down to her very _soul._

And with that, came a new strength. Her body no longer felt heavy. Rei, for a moment, was so overwhelmed that she thought she could fly high towards the shattered moon of her world and take it for herself. And as the flames that had flooded her body came to a singular, compressed point within her core, Rei inwardly grinned as the knowledge of what exactly was happening came to her.

And then, the vicinity was enveloped by an explosion.

The beowolf reeled as it rocketed across the dirt. All the while, Rei developed an ultimate blanket of warmth over her being. Her worries melted away, previous inhibitions nonexistent. The girl watched her wounds and scuffs disappear, her blood glowing a bright light before dissipating not unlike the black matter around a dying grimm. Blemishes on her skin turned clear and flawless, calluses from hard work were now smooth and free of healing blisters. Her eyesight, while it was just fine before, sharpened significantly into perfect vision. And her hair, she noticed, previously dying at some strands and split on many ends, was as healthy as hair can be and shining like ebony.

_You have to kill it now._

The thought came spontaneously, almost like a self defence mechanism as she remembered the recovering beowolf. Gritting her teeth as all the pain she'd gathered over her lifetime came to the forefront, Rei doubled over, refreshed in all senses of the word, and sprinted.

The ground tore with every footfall, the young girl easily comparable with a professional marathon runner. In the span of half a second, a plan had formed and finalised within her mind as Rei snatched up the discarded spike of oak she had used earlier and closed the distance between her and her prey yet again.

One might say the beowolf was surprised when it found the previously dying girl latching onto its mask. It wasn't stunned enough, however, to thrash about when the girl wrapped her legs around its back. The beowolf bucked and bucked, trying to throw her off, and when that didn't work, it tried swiping at her body in an attempt to utilize its long, blade-like claws. But Rei would have none of it. She hunched her body into the black hide of the beowolf and held on for dear life, her hold not once compromising while it rammed itself into a tree or stood on its two feet to reach for her.

She did, however, take advantage while the beowolf tried its best to reach around for her. Gripping the piece of oak tight, Rei let loose a fierce snarl of her own and struck. She then let go.

The girl rolling onto her arse, Rei watched with almost sadistic pleasure as the beowolf howled in agony. Effectively blinded in both eyes, it scratched at its mask and violently shook its head in an attempt to dislodge the oak. But Rei had lodged it _deep _this time, to the point she could barely see its other end sticking out of the eye socket. Her heart began to calm down as she knew the beowolf was no longer a threat. she had stabbed far enough to reach the brain, and the results came in the form of the beowolf's throes turning sluggish and unbalanced. The beast swayed on its feet, the ferocity of its growls dying in strength and in volume. And then, finally, the beowolf fell over in a slump and after a moment, black particles dissipated into the air until the grimm's body was no more.

And just as she was beginning to relax, Rei's attention snapped to a dark space within tree tree forest. _What now?! _she lamented as she scrambled to her feet, eyeing the piece of oak laying some ways away. _This is trustworthy for now. _she thought grimly as she yet again snatched it up._ I don't think I can run away from this again._.. The adrenaline was already fading, and she wasn't sure she can catch whatever monstrosity that came her way off guard like she had with the beowolf. She'd gotten lucky with the beowolf at best. A fluke. She doubted she can do the same to this unknown adversary.

The first thing she saw was the telltale mask of a grimm. But fear became shock as she registered the flowing mane of hair underneath the mask, coupled with the crimson and black dress that ended in a black skirt that was somewhat high enough to show toned thighs that led into black leggings and combat boots. A matching pair of gauntlets and a sheathed odachi completed the look. Rei recognized the newcomer even before the woman lifted a pale hand to remove the signature grimm mask that raid survivors often point out first in their stories. This woman's name was often laced with fear and hate, her presence usually synonymous with pending death.

As Raven Branwen, leader of Mistral's feared bandit tribe, regarded her with cool crimson eyes, Rei could only return the look with a glare as she raised the piece of oak towards the rogue huntsman. She didn't care, and if she was to die, it'd be a long-deserved holiday she could take up and never look back from.

This seemed to amuse Raven as she drew her odachi, the blade glowing red as the Dust within the sheath activated. The two remained rooted in their spots, Raven at the edge of the clearing and Rei standing next to the corpse of the beowolf. The moon of Remnant decided that exact moment to shine past the clouds, illuminating the two for a brief moment before the clouds shrouded them in darkness once more.

Blood was spilt once more.


	2. Chapter Two

**AN:**

**Surprise, surprised! I wasn't planning to post this so early, but I already had it in the works by the time the first chapter came to be, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of followers and favourites I've gathered since then. No reviews or pm's yet, but that's only making me more eager for future, better, and more flushed out chapters.**

**That's actually my main weakness, I think, aside from the grammar. When you read an action or emotional scene, or any scene really, you'd expect it to be well thought out and depending on the participating characters, fill of insight and all, yeah? That's a struggle for me, so hopefully, I'll improve on that before long. And I'm still looking for a beta-reader, so here's hoping I can find one soon and get some tips on that, heh. Also! For the next few chapters until we get into the meat of things, expect them to be around this long, or somewhat longer. Then, once we get to a specific point, the chapters will jump up to at least 12k in words on average. Hopefully. Anyway, thanks for reading and here's the chapter.**

**I do not own RWBY or anything that does with the franchise, including characters, plot, etcetera. **

* * *

"I fucking hate you."

"You, and many others."

Rei crinkled her nose and tried not to think too much about the sensation of digestive matter squishing about against her hands and fingers as she did her best to clean it from the carcass. She ended up cupping her hands around the little pile she had made before tossing it at Raven's boots out of spite. Smirking as she was rewarded from a disgusted curse, Rei continued to skin the deer without further issue. "Serves you right. I should just leave the waste matter instead of taking the extra time to clean it, then you and the rest of the tribe can get sick off it."

"Petty words for someone who has to eat too."

"I can hunt something else. Unless you poke the intestines again, I should be just fine." Raven snorted as Rei finished up a little while later, individually bagging the organs (the ones that weren't poked by an odachi to make her life harder) after separating them into edible and non edible groups. Cleaning her bloody hands and arms at the nearby stream, the crimson clad duo began their trek back to the main encampment with Raven carrying the carefully cut meat over her shoulder in another bag.

"How goes training?" Raven asked casually as she inspected the edges of her weapon. Rei eyed the bandit leader in her peripherals while making sure she didn't accidentally kick the bags of organs lest she ruptured them.

"Just fine." An arched eyebrow had her elaborate. "Sparring with Vernal isn't doing much except getting her more pissed at me whenever I beat her again-"

"She needs to grow some balls."

"-and the other tribe members can't provide me with a challenge. There's _you _but we all know how that'd end up."

"You are doing well though." Oh? Praise from the Raven Branwen? Such a thing was rare and far in between. Rei made sure to take that to heart. "You learn quickly, you adapt almost naturally, and at the rate you're going, I daresay you'll end up kicking the shit out of veteran huntsmen within the next couple of years. With experience, of course."

"Like becoming a walking bruise every time you make me spar with you isn't experience enough." Rei remarked with a sarcastic snort.

"Short of that then. And I suppose you can throw in the grimm and the few times we run into trouble whenever we go out for a raid."

Rei shrugged. "I think I've nearly mastered my claws too." Raven watched as Rei, with a flick of her hands, brought gleaming deadly claws from her custom made gauntlets. They encompassed the back of her hands and ran the total length of her fingers, if just a little bit longer. Rei's hands resembled those of a beowolf, what with the gunmetal coloured claws and gauntlets against her black fingerless gloves. Rei flared her aura, the accents of her claws covered themselves in a sinister red glow from her aura as the Dust within the claws themselves primed for battle. Rei absolutely loved how effective the Dust worked in conjuction with her claws. She could use all colours of Dust whenever she wanted to with just a flick of the wrist, but she preferred to use the burn varients though. Both grimm and man can't help but to panic whenever they're on fire. "I just need to train more with range." Another particular shift of her hands brought out the dual barrels above the backs of her hands. They were small barrels, certainly, but they did pack quite a punch. A single burn dust round could annihilate an ursa head, as Rei had tested on one of her excursions.

"You'd do well to get it down soon, I didn't spend much of my hard earned-" "Extorted." "-lien to make those complicate weapons for nothing."

And they were complicated. The claws were made out of the strongest materials they could find, but the smithsmith they'd gone to had to break his back and then some in order to tune it to be capable for dustcasting without sacrificing the durability. In order to feed the rounds into her gauntlets, Rei would have to insert them into the slots above her forearms. The opened and closed with just a swipe of the hand. The dust rounds would then be loaded into her gauntlets, ready to fire from the backs of her hands. And in order for the dustcasting to work, the used ammunition residue would be automatically collected into a separate feeding chamber with each shot, leading to the hollow insides of her claws where, upon harnessing her aura, the fine residue of the used Dust would activate along the edges and ends of her claws for whatever use.

"What is it specifically?"

"It's kinda hard aiming and controlling recoil when you're firing from your arms." Rei said with a roll of the eyes.

"Told you you should've gone with the shotgun augments, then you wouldn't have to worry about single shot precision. That's what Yang-"

Raven paused, her eyes glazing over for a second before she returned her focus ahead of them. Rei decided to not question the matter of the woman's daughter. "Then again, you're firing rounds with the power of two hand cannons per hand so I guess it evens out."

Rei nodded. "With the recoil, it's not so much of a problem controlling it as it is making sure it doesn't throw off my trajectory in case I decide to swing immediately after. _Unless, _I decide to allow it to kick back my arm some ways so I can build up even more momentum for my claws."

"So again, it evens out."

"Pretty much." Rei shrugged. "I just don't want my arm to recoil too far away if I want to go in for a quick punch."

"You can easily work around that if you need to." They crested a hill and Rei took a moment to appreciate their view of the forest around them before continuing on their way to the camp. "And what about your semblance?"

"What about it?" Rei snorted. "I haven't discovered mine yet." She then developed a sneer. "Oh, it'd be glorious if I can make portals like you."

Raven arched a brow. "My portals require me to bond with others."

"Pfft." Rei waved sarcastically. "That's handy and all, but I'd rather my portals develop for those I hate. Makes for easy assassinations."

"I like the way you think. Qrow would fall in both categories." A pause. "And are you meaning to imply that you'd assassinate me as well?"

"Well, are you saying that you wouldn't want the student to surpass the teacher?"

"Your logic is just the right kind of fucked up I enjoy."

* * *

_Speaking of Qrow... _Rei watched as crow shifted into Qrow, wondering how he managed to get into the tent as the flaps were closed. Maybe he just flew right through them? He _was _drunk most of the time, maybe he figured it wouldn't hurt too much. "Raven, we have a guest."

"I know. I can smell the whiskey. And it isn't mine." From the other side of the large tent, as opposed to the hammock Rei was partial to, Raven swung her legs over the edge of her fur and skin mattress. Dressed in just a tank top and shorts, the sister Branwen looked as relaxed as ever even as she met her brother's scowl. The two's resemblances to each other were strikingly apparent, even for brother and sister. The same black hair, the same red eyes, even skin tone. But whereas Raven was full in body, Qrow was almost lanky and almost a head and a half taller than his sister. "What's the occasion, brother? Here to insult me and my life choices again?"

"Nah." Qrow answered gruffly as he took a swig from his flask, then eyeing Rei for a moment. "Say, how old are you, kid?"

"Too young for men like you to go after. You're lucky we don't have good relations with the police." Qrow snorted, giving Raven an off-hand "I like her." to which the latter nodded in agreement. "I'm seventeen."

Qrow whistled. "Nearly ten years since that night." The drunk eyed Raven with a teasing smirk. "Longer than the time you spent raising your actual daughter."

Raven's expression, stony as it normally was, became even stonier if that were possible. In fact, Rei could spot the Maiden's hand itching towards her odachi.

"Just an observation, I promise!" Qrow smirked with raised hands of peace.

"Why are you here, Qrow?" Raven's weapon in her hand, Rei wondered if her own casual dress would survive the encounter between the two. So instead of contemplating it further, she simply stood from her hammock and walked over to the other far side of the tent. Maybe she could avoid the crossfire from there?

"Ozzy knows about the kid."

Raven froze, as did Rei. How did the headmaster of Beacon know? They were careful, they stayed away from Vale, even. Whatever raids they went on, Rei would always make sure she wore a mask similar to Raven's. Hell, she even underwent tutelage from Raven on how to to properly walk like a grown woman with confidence (Vernal had outright laughed for days on end when it came to the hip/arse swaying fails) so that she wouldn't be viewed as weak! And she was fifteen at the time! How did Ozpin figure it out?

"I assume he wants Rei to join Beacon Academy." Raven gritted. "If so, tell him to fuck off and that he can shove his cane where the sun doesn't shine."

"With Goodwitch's riding crop, I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't already an experiment." Qrow drawled. "But no. That's not all there is to me coming here."

"Oh?"

"He has another offer for you, Rae. You see, my niece--your daughter, has been accepted into Beacon and will be taking her first semester in four months with the rest of the first-years."

"I know."

"Oh, so you're still snooping on her when she's not paying attention? Does my sister actually care for her kid?"

Raven remained silent, only narrowing her eyes. Rei, herself, kept wincing with every comment Qrow made in regards to Yang Xiao-Long, knowing just how volatile Raven can get with regards to her short-lived parenting.

"Tsk. Anyway, he still wants your help against you-know-who of the you-know-what in the you-know-where--" _This guy seems really pleased with himself for the wordplay. _"-so here's his offer: If you allow it, Rei can take the entrance exams and be in time for initiation four months from now."

"And what would I gain from this? All I'm gathering is you're just taking her away to use her for Ozpin's shitty game of chess."

Rei had to speak up too. And with a passion. "And I'll _never _become a huntsman. You lot are a shame for what you're supposed to be. I'm not even a huntsman, and our tribe grants more protection than _any of you _can muster without fail." Rei sneered, contempt boiling to the surface. "You lot are hardly better than trained police. So what if you can kill grimm more proficiently?" Rei had to refrain from spitting onto the ground--they were still in the tent. Raven would be royally pissed. "You never arrive when you're needed most. And by the time you do, it's just to mark down another slaughter and another village or outpost to abandon."

Qrow growled. "Look, kid, you have no idea how much responsibility we have. _None._"

"So much responsibility, the headmasters and other governors of all the kingdoms delegate _kids _to preserve a working society?" Rei spat as she gestured to herself. "I'm seventeen. _Seventeen. _Trainees are accepted at seventeen and are expected to deal with grimm or even criminals on their first assignments. We're expected to go out there and risk our lives for the people and yet, I don't see them doing anything worth contributing for us. The random person down the street can be a healthy, fit, mid twenties guy but I don't see anyone recruiting him for huntsmen training. Nope, he works at a fucking library. And that's okay. Just like it's okay to instead seek out prodigies who are barely old enough to maintain a part time job and live on their own.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Where are you when the rapists crawl the streets? Where are you when the ganglords extort everyone for 'protection'? Where are you when children are getting kidnapped right off the road, never to be seen again until they're found broken and mindless, dead if they're lucky? Again, you're hardly any better than any police force. At least they're responsive. At least they regularly patrol. At least they care. But you guys? With all the power you have at your disposal, you greedily keep yourselves out of the picture until there's already a grimm incursion halfway in the making. You're fucking jokes."

Her vision blackened for a moment as she found herself in Qrow's enraged grasp. Raven had drawn her odachi with its edge teasing her brother's throat, but nothing more as Qrow had yet to take any further action.

"What, you bandits think you're so much better than us? You think you can handle waves upon waves of grimm on the daily? You think you're any better than those rapists you've mentioned, the scum of the streets of every kingdom out there?"

Rei narrowed her eyes and gave a defiant glare. "Call us what you want." Rei choked out as her vision became teary. "We pillage, we steal, we threaten. But we keep our word at the very least. If we offer protection, we'll damned well protect you until not one of us is left standing. If you treat us well, we'll treat you well and more. We don't wait around until shit happens to do something about it. _We take action._"

"Let her down, Qrow." Raven said slowly, eyes darting between the two. Qrow grunted and Rei had to blink the stars out of her eyes as she tried to right herself on her hammock. "And Rei, take a second outside. I need to have a word in private with my brother."

Nodding gruffly, Rei gave Qrow another glare, one that he returned, before stalking outside.

"Bloody unreliable celebrities are what they are." Rei muttered as she was greeted by the crisp night air.

* * *

"What crawled up inside her and died?" Qrow snorted as he took another swig of his flask.

Raven sheathed her weapon and leaned against her wartable with a casual cross of the arms. "She doesn't have the greatest trust for huntsmen."

"You think? There was more emotion than sound reasoning in her words than my hookups on pms."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Such an elagant way of words, brother. No wonder everyone is just _lining up _for a relationship with you."

Qrow smirked smugly. "It gets me laid, doesn't it? I'mma bad boy."

"Back to the point of contention." Raven started. "It all stemmed from before I took her in."

"Wo-oooow, you're saying _you _didn't fill her head with all that anger and distrust?"

The Maiden gave a wordless shake of the head. "She's had it before I even met her." Qrow hummed and gestured for her to continue. "After I tested her remaining strength when she was done with the beowolf that had chased her down-"

"The kid took down a beowolf all by herself?"

"She did. And she was eight. Granted, the situation stressed her enough and gave the boon of unlocking her aura near the end of the encounter."

"Tough cookie."

"As I was saying," Raven gestured to the outside where Rei had stalked off, "she managed to last a full minute against me after I attempted to scare her out of her wits. Superficial cut to her shoulder didn't stop her. So when I convinced her to join my tribe, she finally told me of her past after maybe a few months."

Qrow frowned at the lack of whiskey remaining in his flask. Raven sighed in annoyance and tossed him a half finished bottle from her own inventory. Qrow swiftly caught it with a grunt of thanks. "So what happened?" he got out after a large gulp of drink.

"Her family was wiped out outside of Shion. Grimm incursion towards the village. And by the time any huntsman responded, it was too late." Qrow winced. "No one took her in, so she took to doing whatever she could do to survive at the smaller settlements. Ate thrown away food, made off with unsupervised goods, drank from the river and all the while, trying to make her way to Shion proper. Had a few run ins with unsavory individuals on the way before she tried her hand at the final stretch between the settlement she was in at the time and Shiom. That was when I found her, not even halfway across." Raven shrugged. "I didn't start taking her on raids and patrol until she turned fifteen. And I guess she wasn't too impressed at the lack of huntsmen stopping us at any point in time. There _were _a few, but they usually came around by the time we were about done and made off with our earnings. Or promptly shit themselves when they see me then turn tail.

"Rei knows that not all huntsmen are what she makes them out to be, but she'd be damned if she is expected to trust them at face value."

"So the kid has a grudge against huntsmen. Kind of surprised she trusts you, you know, with you being a Beacon graduate."

"Oh, she didn't for a long time. A _long _time. Aside from telling me of her origins, she didn't start trusting as she does now until... after the first few raids?"

"And those started when she was fifteen right? Pffft, yeesh. Seven years later."

"We've talked about her enough." Raven tapped the wartable impatiently now, though her expression remained lazy. "Why the offer from Ozpin? And what was it that you didn't tell me when she was here?" Ozpin was a manipulative man. His offers were never black and white, and to suddenly contact her through Qrow after all these years was skeptical at best. Especially considering her stance and reputation? Why would he offer a spot in Beacon for Rei, someone practically raised by the Raven Branwen of the Branwen Tribe herself?

"He felt her."

"Excuse me?"

"The kid. Oz felt her aura awaken that night, and she's with you and your Spring Maiden. There's something about her that's... dangerous." Qrow frowned again as he looked in the direction Rei went. "Her aura feels similar to Salem's signature."

Raven went rigid, once against grasping her odachi as tightly as her strength would allow. Immediately, questions flew by the Maiden's train of thought. Did Rei know? Had she been a spy for Salem this entire time? Hell, _was Rei Salem in disguise? _Raven locked onto Rei's nearly completely suppressed aura signature, eyes narrowing. The girl was a fair distance from the camp, and steadily growing further away into the surrounding forest.

"His olive branch is for Rei to enroll into Beacon so he can keep an eye on her, and if Salem has eyes on her, it'd draw more attention away from you. He's not asking for anything more, only that he can rest easy you won't do anything directly against his future plans for Salem."

"Are we just going to completely gloss over the fact that the one I've been providing shelter to for nearly a decade may be an agent for the fucking Queen of Grimm herself?!" Raven fought to keep her voice as low as possible. Her tribe would be up at arms and manic if they were to find out about Rei's questionable disposition, let alone finding out who Salem was. "_What _is she, Qrow? What the hell have I been harbouring for all these years?"

"A kid, Rae." Qrow's tone was softer. Unusual of her brother to be anything but crass and foul-mouthed. "Like I said, the kid's aura is _similar _to Salem's, but they're definitely not the same. You know the history between the two, Oz and Salem, they're both magical in nature. Ancient. Powerful. This kid's aura isn't even close to being on the same level of a Maiden's, much less Salem's." Qrow rubbed his scratchy chin. "It's actually almost normal. You have your auras and semblances dealing with darkness or something similar, like this ex-White Fang kid he's been watching. She makes clones of herself out of shadow, but that doesn't mean she's evil or under Salem's influence. The difference between this kid and Rei though... Aura is supposed to feel peaceful, no matter the nature. Even if its Yang's berserker, aura is peaceful at heart."

"And Rei's? It feels like plain aura to me, if a bit larger than average."

"You mean you don't feel it?" Qrow arched a brow. "When it's active, you don't the pure _hatred _bleeding off her space? There are others like her where their auras give off something else. Granted, they're very few in number, and a couple of that small number were erased from Oz's senses as soon as they were awoken--those were likely Salem's lackies--but they do exist. That Nikhos champion kid has an aura harbouring absolute modesty, and Ruby's got innocence. There are a couple in Atlas, Apathy and Greed respectively. One in Haven, with their aura representative of Lust." Qrow grinned. "She's a teacher, actually, would love to meet her."

"Dog." Raven rolled her eyes. _I've never noticed that though.. I've always thought Rei is just more aggressive in combat than most, and the rest just falls under her personality and upbringing. _She eyed her brother as he downed the whisky to nearly a quarter remaining in the bottle. _But now that I think about it... I suppose I haven't looked into it too deeply, I've been trying to get a grasp on my Spring abilities..._

"If you're still wondering about her loyalties, Oz doubts that Rei has any knowledge of Salem, nor is she being manipulated in any way. Salem _might _have eyes on her, the Witch doesn't have an aura but boy, does her signature _scream _Hatred so maybe she'll try and reach out to the kid sooner or later. And if that happens..." Qrow thumbed the general direction of Vale. "He'd rather it be under his watch, or better, if his closeness would steer Salem away from trying in the first place. So that's the offer, with you benefitting from having a smaller risk in the grand scheme of things, I guess."

"A win-win." Raven nodded, relaxing against the wartable again. "Either way, it's not up to me. That girl can do what she wants, and it is clear she isn't very fond of the idea of becoming a huntsman."

"You can't convince her?"

"When she's like this, she makes_Vernal _seem _submissive._ I'm not dealing with that headache, convince her yourself."

"Gods, no. She's practically your kid. If she's anything like you, I'd sooner give up drinking."

_"__Sigh._"

* * *

"I guess I should get some more practice in while I'm out here anyway..." Rei muttered, the wind drowning out her words as she gave herself a once-over. "Not the best for combat but it'll do." She was in a casual state of dress, consisting of a tan tunic with an open collar and dark combat trousers. But at least they were of reinforced fibres. They could probably hold up to light to moderate strain, nothing more.

Making sure her boots were knotted tight, Rei took a moment to focus within. She reached deep inside and found that ball of negative she'd always been able to sense since the day she unlocked her aura. It was almost tangible. Rei envisioned herself grabbing into it tightly and making it burst, but at a controlled rate. She could feel the negativity bleed from her aura and out to the deeper parts of the forest. And once a good minute had passed, she let go, resigning herself to wait.

The fractured moon high in the sky, most of her surroundings were basked in dim light. But it was laughably easy to pick out the several pairs of glowing red eyes that were the grimm approaching from the treeline. Rei smirked to herself, releasing a little more negativity but at a trickling rate. She didn't want an incursion to befall the area, only a small and steady flow of grimm that she can manage.

_Oh? Looks like I've gotten lucky tonight. _Rei mused as the grimm converged on her position. She counted several beowolves, a couple of ursae, and to top it off, an alpha beowolf. The alpha beowolf in particular stood out, and not just for its size. The average alpha beowolf was what, 7/7.5' at least? This one had to be at least very close to being 8', maybe more. Couple the imposing height (it was _bigger _than the ursae for perspective) with the numerous armoured bone fragments upon its body, the spikes sprouting from its fur, and _horns _for fuck's sake, the alpha beowolf might be on the older and more intelligent side of the scale regarding the grimm as a whole.

_Fucking horns. _Rei shook her head as she ducked under a sweeping paw from one of the ursae, rolling around to drive her clawed fist into the mask of a brave beowolf. Its mask shattered from the force, and to be thorough, Rei fired her mounted hand cannons from her gauntlet, the two rounds eviscerating the beowolf's head and even passing right through to injure the other ursa behind it right in the belly. Pivoting, Rei leaped onto the back of the first ursa and stabbed her claws into its neck, holding on tight with her free hand burying itself into the ursa's collar.

The ursa bellowed in fury as it reared up on two feet and flailed, trying to knock its passenger off. Rei developed a sick sense of glee as they barreled about, the Ursa indiscriminately swiping another pair of beowolves and reducing them to halves. Rei held on all the while, firing another pair of rounds into the Ursa's face but only cracking it on the first attempt. Digging her claws in deeper, Rei let go with her other hand and utilizing the momentum, swung herself around until she let go. As the act left the ursa's neck horribly gashed, she landed on another beowolf which sent them into a tumble across the ground. When they stopped, Rei didn't hesitate for another powerful cross. While the mask didn't break, the beowolf's head snapped back and bounced off the dirt, the beast's concussed_-Do grimm get concussions?-_head coming back up only to be blown apart by the same fist. The handcannons made short work, to Rei's delight, and she revelled in how she was starting to get a hang on the recoil all the while.

She was already aware of the remaining three beowolves closing in, and how the two ursae werewere sticking back with the alpha who eerily remained at the treeline watching with keen eyes. _That's not normal, is it? _Rei wondered as she easily dispatched the small fry, enjoying the crisp night air chilling her body as she worked up the adrenaline. The ursae charged at her as she reloaded her gauntlets, Rei barely having enough time to finish just as the ursa with the cracked mask threw its entire body her way in a comical, professional wrestler sort of body slam.

At the same time, the other ursa took to uprooting a tree with little difficulty. Rei cursed as she backstepped, barely avoiding the original ursa. But she didn't count on it swiping at her legs after such an attack. Rei landed harshly on her back and her eyes widened at the sight of a tree trunk coming her way and she had no time to get out of the way.

"Fuck my life, hone-."

Her world exploded in moderate pain. She felt the tree splinter apart against her aura-clad form while she tumbled across the dirt, almost actually eating dirt had it not been for the fact she'd clenched her mouth closed due to the pain. But already, the aches that began to plague her body started to disappear under the relief of her aura. Scrapes and cuts healed, leaving her aura just under its prime state. Quietly thanking heraher large aura capacity and reserves, Rei shook the dizziness away as she stood to her feet.

Only to say, "Are fucking kidding m-?" as the same ursa that had thrown the tree tackled her to the ground.

_THIS IS WHY I HATE RPGS WITH KNOCKDOWN EFFECTS! _The thought came at random as Rei recovered, finding herself pinned underneath the ursa as it raised a paw to smash her to death. Memories of a video game she had played once before when Raven brought back a handheld system from her travels. As she unleashed a flurry of powerful strikes to the ursa's exposed abdomen, firing her handcannons whenever she could, Rei remembered the many hours she'd invested into the oddly addicting game. It had been fun, if a bit grating with how many enemies possessed knockdown attacks and the game lacking any invincibility frames to counteract them. "GET." She drove her fist into the ursa's stomach, then dug her claws inside. "OFF." She managed to penetrate the ursa's stomach, causing the grimm to try and rear back in agony, but Rei didn't let it go. She dug deeper and aimed slightly higher, grinning maliciously upon finding the bear-inspired beast's spine. "OF. ME!"

Rei had destroyed the handheld game when the final stage's enemies possessed primary attacks all of which, applied knockdown effects. Raven had been pissed too when she felt the handheld break against her face.

Rei had been sore for a week afterwards.

Firing her handcannon, Rei utilize the recoil to break and pull out the ursa's spine right through the open cavity in its stomach. The spine and the glow of the ursa's eyes immediately began to disappear as she rolled out from underneath its corpse. The night air was then filled with numerous howls, Rei bracing herself for what must be just short of a dozen beowolves approaching their vicinity. But at the moment, the remaining ursa was her focus, and she made sure to keep the alpha beowolf in her peripherals.

_Wait, what is that? _

Her eyes snapped to a spot deeper in the forest, only catching a fading golden glow that disappeared shortly after.

"Weird.." she muttered, not feeling any aura in that direction. It could have been a stray grimm, she reasoned, as she rocketed towards the ursa and aimed for its cracked mask.

* * *

_"Interesting... Withdraw soon, my darling, I've about gathered what I needed to learn on her..."_As soon as Raven stepped into the clearing, her eyes were immediately drawn to the imposing alpha beowolf lurking at the tree line, noting its unusual appearance and how its blood-red eyes seemed to be _off. _They weren't glowing like the rest of the grimm that converged on Rei, or any other grimm the Maiden had ever seen. It was definitely intelligent, that much she could tell, but it wasn't an Ancient either. Maybe it was in the middle? As in, on its way to becoming Ancient? Raven honestly couldn't draw any more ideas other than that.

Feeling a wave of heat, Raven refocused her attention on Rei and smirked at the girl's activation of her Dust. Both sets of claws glowed red hot, leaving behind embers as she slashed and stabbed this way and that, leaving behind dead or dying, panicking grimm with flames licking at their wounds. The integration of Dust within Rei's weapons were genius in the way they worked, with how the bullets were coated with grinded down Dust powder that were fine enough not to ignite within the weapons themselves. Then the excess grinds would be collected automatically by way of tiny vents in each of the four barrels, fed into the channels lining her claws, infusing them with the effects of whichever Dust she was using.

_Waste not, want not. _Raven hummed with amusement,

_"I just had an amazing epiphany."_

_"Oh? Do tell."_

_"If I can master my aim, with how I have two barrels per gauntlet and the rounds having almost the same velocity and power of a high powered rifle, do you think I can headshot someone right in both eyes and leave behind just bloody sockets?"_

_"... If you ever plan to try it out, signal me and I'll portal over to see."_

_"Ooh, what happens if the guy turns out to be Ozpin?"_

_"Bonus points and full privledges to having a tent to yourself if you get his glasses in the same shot. I'll kick Vernal out of her tent and make her sleep with the others."_

Raven had to get it out of Vernal that the idea _was _amusing and worth seeing... and that their newest member of the Tribe wasn't a psychopath. Maybe.

Not planning to step in unless Rei needed the help--_Not like there's anything wrong with becoming stronger on one's own--_Raven's attention returned to the odd alpha beowolf and quirked an eyebrow at the sight she was presented with.

It was attempting to leave. Hunched low on all fours, the monster started towards the shadows of the forest as discreetly as possible. It wasn't uncommon for older, more intelligent beowolf to retreat when it saw a losing fight, but this one in particular... Why was everything about it so odd? What was giving her that _off _feeling? Perhaps it was her Maiden powers reacting to a more powerful grimm than the usual fodder she would deal with usually. She was now magical in nature, and she'd only received these powers of Spring fairly recently. She didn't know what the entire package consisted of, and she didn't like that.

She'd brought it upon herself though, so she was partly to blame. Raven knew killing the stray Spring Maiden would empower her with the magic, but she didn't completely think it through. And it wasn't like she had a lot of time to herself either, what with managing the Tribe, the raids and deals she had to honour, and Rei.

_Or am I finally starting to get old?_

...

_Pffft._

"GET BACK HERE."

Raven locked onto the sight of Rei launching herself at the alpha beowolf. _Didn't have to announce herself. She could've surprised it. _the Maiden hummed to herself as Rei had to roll out of the way of a wide cross slash from the alpha beowolf. The girl tried to counter with a strong kick to its side, but the grimm actually blocked it with ease using its powerful forearm. Undeterred, Rei pivoted on her heel and turned for a roundhouse, but the beowolf took a step back and easily avoided that as well. Rei was left open as she tried to right herself, and thus, was subjected to a backhand that sent her flying.

Recovering mid-air, Rei landed, but not without leaving a large gouge in the earth as she skidded some ways. Raven could feel the girl's hatred for the grimm rising to worrying levels now, her aura visibly encompassing her form like a haze of blood. Concerned of the negativity in the area, Raven kept eyes out for any approaching grimm and also opened a portal to Vernal's tent. Without even looking, she tossed in a feather from her mask. Vernal would know to prepare for a possible grimm attack, and if Raven threw in another feather, that'd escalate into "There is definitely going to be grimm. Be ready."

As for Rei, she fought with great annoyance as her path towards the alpha beowolf was impeded by many small fry beowolves. She dispatched them easily, almost killing them faster than their numbers spawned. All the while, the alpha beowolf took the opportunity to leave, disappearing into the foliage.

"NO!"

An explosion of aura, and the surrounding beowolves were decimated. Raven sighed as Rei disappeared after the alpha beowolf, the latter having clearly lost herself to her hatred for grimm-kind. She would need to keep her temper in check.

As Raven walked after them, she tried not to acknowledge how similar Rei was to both her and her golden-haired daughter in terms of temper.

* * *

Rei spat the collected blood in her mouth at the ground, her aura healing her cut lip and tongue as she wiped her mouth on a sleeve. Ahead, the alpha beowolf regarded her with a predatory gaze, but kept its distance. Gritting her teeth, Rei broke off in a run towards the beast once again, shrugging off the pain of its last backhand to her face.

_I will kill it. _Rei thought viciously as she reared back a fist. The alpha, seeing this coming, moved to block her once more with a forearm. But Rei anticipated this and fired twice at the grimm. Four powerful rounds buried themselves into the offending forearm, igniting themselves into flame as the Dust took effect. Snarling as it tried to bat the flames away, the alpha failed to intercept Rei fast enough.

_I WILL KILL IT._

Rei drove her fist into its abdomen, firing once, then attacked with her other fist, firing, and repeated the cycle with relentless abandon. She pounded away, her fists a blazing blur with two flame rounds burying themselves into the alpha beowolf per strike. Rei, after her gauntlets clicked empty of rounds, then followed up with another assault but with her bladed claws. The alpha howled in agony as her claws glowed a furious red-white, the mounds of excess Dust in her weapons channeling with fervour. Gashes viciously tore across its already present wounds and cauterizing, only to be layered with more and more strikes as Rei didn't let up, even as her stamina was finally beginning to decline and sweat drenched her clothes.

The alpha, however, apparently had enough as its fury overrode the pain. Suddenly snatching Rei into the air with its large paws, it gave the girl one agonisingly tight squeeze. Rei cried out, both in pain and in anger as she felt her arms creak and her ribs crack and her aura beginning to give out.

_She couldn't block out the screaming. She couldn't block out the sound of flesh being rent from bone, nor the sound of those very same bones crunching under teeth. Rei curled in on herself as tightly as possible, wishing feverishly for it all to end. Everything was burning. Everything was dying. It was just her and her mother. And the deathstalker. Her father had already been pinned by a Nevermore and swallowed whole. _

Gritting her teeth, Rei flared her aura with as much hatred she felt towards the grimm as possible. Flinching at the sudden increase of aura, the alpha's grip loosened just enough for Rei to slip out of. Rei fell to a knee just before the towering grimm, breathing heavily but not letting go of her hatred. "I will kill you." she said with deadly calm, reaching within to grab that ball of hatred and instead of releasing it, she let it _overcome _her aura. She had no idea why she was letting it do so, only that all her instincts compelled her to do just that.

_She ran and ran, the deathstalker preoccupied with its feasting. Other villagers were either dying or screaming for help, but she couldn't do anything. All she could do was run, and she ran like never before. Before long, the caravan was far behind her, and she didn't dare look back. It could mean the end of her. It could break her._

_She ran. She never looked back. But something followed her deep within, and she held fast onto the feeling and would never let go until the day she died. _

The crimson haze surrounding her form suddenly thickened and glowed angrily, as if harnessing to her deep-seated hatred. The beowolf took a large step back, having never experienced this before in its lifetime, and its darker instincts _screaming _for it to abandon its prey for the negativity was _too much._ Which was unheard of, for the likes of grimm.

* * *

_"What's this?... How.. peculiar.."_"_RAAAAAAARGH!" _Rei bellowed as she leapt to eye level with the alpha and reared back to deliver one, powerful uppercut that drove itself right through the jaw of the alpha beowolf, her eyes literally blazing aura as her face was splattered with viscous grimm blood. The alpha released a distorted howl, its lower jaw hanging from just one side while the other side was obliterated into nothing.

The monstrous grimm fell onto its back, Rei landing right on its chest victoriously. But she wasn't done, as the alpha was forced to look Rei in her eyes with her hand gripping its head by the mask.

"You won't take from me again. I swear it, I won't stop until Remnant is free of you bastards."

What neither of them noticed was how her aura glowed with an odd hue once more, travelling from her arm to the alpha and disappearing into its chest.

"Akatsuki." Rei whispered. "You monsters made me the last of the red-moon clan... You left me with nothing."

The glow returned, starting off as a tiny pinprick of light at the centre of the alpha beowolf's chest.

"I will make sure you know how it feels... To be left with nothing." Rei sneered as she raised her free hand. "And as I hunt every single one of you down, I'll make sure to make each of you die as painfully as the la-."

Rei paused, noting how the alpha's eyes seemed to lose focus. She then noticed the glow beneath her, eyes widening as the glow brightening considerably until it was almost too harsh to look out.

Crying out, she felt her aura surge throughout her body. Pain became all she knew as she felt like her soul was being stretched thin. Arcs of excess aura danced along her body, outright cutting up the plant life around her. And then, she felt incredibly cold as if someone had thrown her into the freezing waters of Atlas. Her body became numb, she couldn't feel anything but the pain and the sensation of being overfilled with _something_.

And then, as quickly as it began, the pain stopped.

It was replaced with an odd feeling of fullness as Rei regained her senses. The first thing she noticed was that she was _incredibly _sweaty, the shock of being deathly cold and now being one step short of burning alive making her body go haywire as it tried its best to regain homeostasis. She also noticed that her aura was completely gone. Drained. She wouldn't be getting that back for some time. Rei groaned as she fell to her back, eyes lazily rolling to the spot where the alpha beowolf lay.

Only, it wasn't alive anymore. _That's... strange.. _Her mind slurred as she noted that the corpse was dissipating as normal, but there was a lack of colour in the body. It looked as if someone painted the corpse a bland stone grey from head to toe. She'd never seen that happen to a grimm before. Instead of contemplating the oddity, she instead tiredly zeroed in on the sound of light footfalls.

Looking up into Raven's form looming over her own, Rei smirked. "Killed it."

"I saw."

"...About becoming a huntsman..."

"You've changed your mind?"

"... Yes..."

"Hmph. Well, it's your choice, I suppose. My brother is still back at the tent.. Probably robbing the rest of our alcohol, now that I'm thinking about it."

"Hm..."

"Don't tell me you can't pick yourself up?"

"Just...give me a second."

Raven snorted.

"Weakling."

"Avian cunt."

Elsewhere, a Seer blinked out of existence after observing its fill.

* * *

Rei sighed as she went limp in the hot bath. Alone, after a good meal and loads of water later, and to top it off, coming back victorious from one of the hardest fights she'd ever been in, this bath was just the icing on the cake.

Opening her eyes, she splashed herself in the face before scrubbing off the grime and remnants of grimm blood. Next to her on a stool was another set of casuals, her last worn set tossed away as they were nothing more but ribbons at this point, and a comb. Once she rubbed on her favourite vanilla scented oil into her skin, she grabbed the comb as she took in her reflection in the bath.

Her skin pale against the dull browns and blacks of the tent, Rei took in the numerous scars lining her body. She shrugged them off, as they would heal eventually. Rei also noted with annoyance that she will probably have to get her armour refitted soon. Her bust was growing once more, and she'd be damned if she had to struggle clasping on her breastplate for hours on end again.

She hated being a girl sometimes.

Rei also noted with satisfaction that, after years of rigourous training, her svelt body was well sculpted and essentially prepared for her future. It wouldn't do to become a huntsman out of shape, neither would it do to have a belly because she preferred incorporating crop tops into her outfits. For casual dress, anyway. They were comfortable and didn't feel constricting.

Rei met her eyes in her reflection as she began combing her hair, their amber colour guarded. Her face, oval and framed by bangs, was stern, small lips with the lower one being fuller and drawn into a pout that she personally thought drew more attention than she was comfortable with. Her attention returned to her eyes, the haunting orbs unblinking as they zeroed in within. Rei shivered, flicking at her reflection as she went back to combing her long ebony tresses. _Beacon..._She would be enrolling in Beacon Academy very soon. Qrow had informed her she had a few months left to do so, and to take all the required entrance tests before initiation. From there, if she passed, she'd be paired (read:stuck) with three other team members for the rest of her four years training to be a full fledged huntsmen. Perhaps for the rest of the life if they decide not to disband after graduation.

_Where will this take me... _The opportunities were endless for huntsmen. They could simply live off missions of all kinds should they desire to. They could become an active part of the military. They could even open up their own restaurant, hell, huntsmen were essentially free to do whatever they wish so long as they adhere to the law and remained loyal to the kingdoms.

_For now_, Rei decided, _I just need to focus on being better. Stronger. Then, I'll end the grimm. _Rei smiled. _Things are finally going right._**_You are an optimistic one. _**Rei jerked upright, instantly covering herself and flipping her comb over with its handle pointing out. She scanned the tent, eyes narrowed and heart thundering in her ears.

**_The tent is devoid of life, save for you and I._**"Where are you?!" Rei hissed, close to summoning Raven but found that she couldn't. Or rather, _something _was compelling her not to.

**_Within._**"And what does that mean?" Rei snarled, her patience tested as she searched the tent again. "Show yourself, intruder."

**_Very well._**Rei's eyes immediately tracked the dark wisps collecting upon the far wall. It didn't take long, but when they formed a figure, Rei couldn't help but to drop her comb as her blood turned to ice.

Floating without a lower body was a dark being, head encompassed by a horned mask with black accents rather than red. The horns were no longer bleached like bone, but black as well. Razor sharp teeth lined its jaws, though Rei was more focused on the white glow that emanated from the mask's eye sockets, the orbs piercing her soul like Raven's sword cutting into her body.

**_Greetings. _**The alpha beowolf mask's mouth did not move as it spoke. **_I advise against summoning the raven, for she cannot perceive me as you do, nor can anyone else._**Rei still couldn't speak.

**_Rei Akatsuki. _**The floating figure muttered, as if testing the name for what it was in its mouth. **_Rei Akatsuki... _**

Rei could feel its voice resounding in her head, deep but smooth in baritone. She could already feel her calm being crushed into panic as all the implications of what _the fuck _she was seeing came to mind. Events of earlier in the night flashed before her eyes and Rei suddenly found herself sinking to her knees in the bath.

**_Rei Akatsuki. _**The next thing she knew, the mask was in front of her face. It hadn't even moved, she never took her eyes off it. It was just _there, _all of a sudden, right in front of her. **_I feel the hatred within you. Your desire to upend fate and shape your life only in ways you wish for it to flourish. Your strength and ambition, and most notably, your will. _**The mask hovered mere _centimeters _away from her face, her nose nearly touching it. **_Your will is my own, and I shall strive to achieve your desires at the utmost ability._**"What are you...?" Rei suddenly choked, comprehension being thrown out the window and into the shit pit.

**_"I am your will personified, a culmination of your power and the face of that which, you hate and fear. I am your blade and, should you wish it, your shield for others."_**The name came to her unbidden. And it scared her. She had no idea where the name came from, she knew for certain she'd never heard of it before, and yet, she felt as if the name was within her knowledge since the very beginning.

"Abseil."

**_"Your acknowledgement honours me, Milady." _**

The being that she knew was effectively her newly found semblance lowered its head to her in a short bow, before it locked eyes with her again.

**_"Let us burn Remnant and your enemies as we see fit." _**


	3. Chapter Three

**_AN_**

**_Hello, all, and welcome back! Another early update, and this time, with about 11k words not including this note here. I would just like to say, I'm very glad that I've caught the attention of a lot more of you than the last time, and also very pleased to see the favourites and bookmark counts steadily rise with every update._**

**_So why the early update? Well that's easy to explain. It was inspiration! And motivation! After seeing the views climb, I just had it in me to put this chapter out (I even worked on it during my breaks at work) and give you lot more to enjoy. I'm not certain if I can keep up this rate, but fuck me if seeing all of you doesn't motivate me to all hell._**

**_Anyway, so another chapter done... And another one already in the making. Just want to touch on a few more things though._**

**_1\. I've been pm'ed that some of my spelling of certain words seem to be inconsistent. And to answer that here, I apologize to all of you. You see, this site utilizes American spelling and as far as I can tell, there's isn't anything I can do about it and I'll try to pay more attention to the auto correct and all the next time I put out a chapter._**

**_2\. I let one of my mates give this a quick read and they suggested for me to start a Discord server for this story? Should I? What do you all think? I think it'd be fun to share ideas and all, maybe even discuss the story's future (without deviating too much from my outline unless it's too good to pass up, heh) on there. That, or we can just plain discuss RWBY as a whole. I'd love to do either._**

**_3\. No reviews still, but I'm not pushing for them. I think, aside from general opinion about the stories on this site, reviews should be more criticism and the like about the writer's strengths and weaknesses. General writing ability, essentially. I'm guessing the lack of them means I'm not doing to poorly in writing this story out, eheh. No news is good news?_**

**_4\. There is room for romance in Shattered, though I haven't planned any. Any pairings you lot would like to see? If so, be sure to let me know! And I'll perform to the best of my ability._**

**_5\. To reiterate, I am not certain if I can put out the updates as fast as the rate I'm going. Lately, it has all been pure motivation and eagerness to get this story out there. But, I'm sure my limits are much smaller between being able to put out these updates regularly and burning myself out compared to other writers. Then I've got my pups running around my flat and assaulting my keyboard whenever I don't give them enough attention, and other things, so there's that._**

**_6\. Finally, I think it's best to mention that some canon history and/or events will be, or have already, changed to make some of my plot points fit. I'm sure there are some of you out there who prefer it to remain spot on with RWBY's lore, but small sacrifices... right?_**

**_Anyway, I may ramble at this point so let's get on with the story already. Again, thank you all for the motivation to get this out and for taking the time to read my amateur writing!.. Also, you lot are probably going to either hate me, or laugh at the plain irony I've got running at the end._**

**_Until the next time!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY nor do I own anything pertaining to the franchise, such as the characters, plot, etcetera._**

* * *

_What the hell is happening to me?_

"Is there a reason you're standing there like that? Or are you becoming a bit of a narcissist?"

Rei jumped as Raven entered her personal tent for the night, looking the girl's form up and down before nodding satisfactorily to herself. "Proper makings of a powerful combatant. Make sure you keep that up, I have no doubt many women at Beacon would kill for having a body like yours."

Rei's eyes slowly shifted back to her enigma that was Abseil who simply canted his floating head at the Maiden. **_"Fleeting power coursing through her blood that is only her own for the next few generations, barring the worthy, reflects her ancient inheritance." The white orbs of light that were his eyes seemed to intensify in their dim glow. "She blooms and yearns to be more than a sapling, but her weaknesses are heavy in magnitude. Her roots are anchored far too deep, experience spawning remorse and fear inhibit her possible potential and dreams."_** Abseil slowly faced Rei as his words registered faster in an instant than should be possible. **_"A shame she dreams of what could be, far be it of her own will. Her guilt would eventually consume her."_**

How did it know all these things? And as Rei made an attempt to regain her composure, Raven arching a brow at her, Abseil took up a new position by her head.

**_"I know what I know from the ages the, what you refer my former existence as Grimm, have roamed Remnant. Emotions present themselves akin to the words within a parcel, more negative emotions are easily absorbed and understood given my disposition. In regards to her Maidenhood, her power is nearly as ancient as my origins, the knowledge engraved within our instincts since the conception of the first Four Seasons as they walked the earth."_**

"...I'm not sure if I should be proud of what I have, or be worried that you might be coming out of the closet." Rei attempted to shrug of off the shock of the thing being able to hear her thoughts as she unfastened her towel and began drying herself down proper.

**_"The Spring Maiden engaged in intercourse with a progenitor of this generation's silver eyes several time before in a collection of three. The silver eyed one's light was snuffed years ago, however, the Maiden may not be open to such advances anymore."_**

Rei choked on her spit.

"Funny." Raven replied, eyes emanating an orange glow as Rei tried to recover, suspending the girl's folded garments in the air with controlled gusts of Wind as she sat down on the stool. Rei snatched her clothes from the Maiden's supernatural grasp and began throwing them on. "I've come to satisfy my curiosity."

"About what?" Rei asked as she donned her top.

"What happened back with the alpha beowolf. It was an odd sight, seeing it disappear like that."

Rei tried not to give away her sudden nervousness, only barely resisting a flinch, while slipping on her trousers. What could she say? That she somehow, maybe, absorbed the grimm and its soul_\--Grimm don't have souls, do they?_\--was now haunting her because fuck her semblance? And she knew it was her semblance what with how she felt her soul react to Abseil's presence.

Rei did her best to ignore the odd, unexplainable comfort she was gleaning from the slight chill over her shoulder.

**_"An easy misdirection can be applied here without having to resign yourself to resorting to complete dishonesty..."_**

"I think it was an accident..." Rei slowly answered as the words came to mind, feeling as if she was reading from a script and internally groaning as she had to translate some of the formal, longer vocabulary to fit her own. "I was about to kill it, I didn't notice I was really flexing my aura onto the thing though...I was thinking about it. Maybe I pulled off a fluke and killed it with aura? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about trying it again for a test tomorrow."

**_"You cannot produce the same result in the future. Attempting to do so would be ultimately for naught, in addition to expending your aura needlessly."_**

"Curious...Let me know how it goes. If we can somehow manage to achieve that effect universally across our allies, and myself, it would be a great boon for future encounters."

"You will be the first to know. I just hope I don't screw anything up or hurt myself."

Raven nodded and Rei was briefly distracted by the glint of her Nevermore mask. "Four months... Are you prepared?"

"Silly question to ask someone when the offer was dropped out of nowhere literally a couple hours ago." Rei deadpanned.

The Maiden smirked. "Shouldn't matter with how much I've trained you for on-the-spot instances."

Rolling her eyes, Rei sat on the edge of the wooden tub, carefully balancing her weight so as to not fall in. "Any physical exams there may be, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll need to brush up academically though. A lot." Not being in school for many years would do that to you.

"My brother left a condensed review packet for everything you'll be expected to know--I have a feeling that Ozpin expected you to accept either way." They both scowled irritably at that. "Shouldn't be too difficult, most of it is technical knowledge on grimm and combat, aura too. You have a month to study those parts before the enrollment test, then you have to demonstrate your physical prowess a couple of weeks later. In the third month, you'll be taking a final test on everything I've mentioned and a spar with the late enrollees before you start initiation at the end of the fourth month.

"Initiation is on an unofficial rotation: There are four different tests and this time will be the first one, I suspect. You will likely be conducting a search for whatever items Ozpin wants you and your future team to collect and depending on those you first make eye contact with, and the items you select, will determine your team for rest of your time at Beacon." Raven hummed with amusement. "Have fun being stuck with three teammates for four years, you'd better hope they're likeable."

"I'll deal with it either way. They're teammates, not life partners." Rei rolled her eyes.

"Most teams stick together after graduation, so careful with what you say." Raven tutted with a chuckle. "You can always disband and do what you want though. After graduation, the opportunities are nigh endless."

**_"Claim what is yours in the world, Milady, allow the rest to grovel and envy."_**

_Fucking creepy._ Rei suppressed a shudder.

**_"Opinions are subjective."_**

"Before I forget to mention," Raven interjected before Rei could call the thing an arse, "it is left unsaid, but killing is allowed, though frowned upon, during initiation. You'll be competing against dozens, so you're expected to do the best you can to pass so that you won't be disqualified for attending the year. It's rare that someone is killed during initiation, much less by another potential student, but it happens regardless."

**_"An advantage you possess, as the others likely do not."_** The floating alpha beowolf skull spectre made an odd sort of circuit around both her and Raven, never once breaking eye contact. **_"They likely have not drawn blood in their lifetimes save for presentation."_** Sensing her confusion likely, it elaborated. **_"The lot of them only spar and train as they prepare their transition into huntsmen.. They have not killed nor maimed as you have. Your experience renders the forthcoming initiation effortless."_**

_Don't jinx me._ she mentally grumbled.

**_"Such superstitions are merely excuses for the inept to make as they fail."_**

"I'll be fine. Not like any of them, likely, has any experience killing. I'll be able to go through with it." She essentially summarized what Abseil had told her. Ish.

"See that you make it out alive. You'd be a sorry waste of time and effort on my part otherwise."

"Bitch."

Raven shrugged with another chuckle. "In any case, the packet is in my tent whenever you want to pick it up. Pick it up now, or later, I don't care, it's your near future." Raven looked outside the tent. "Dawn will break soon. I suggest you rest soon. I expect you to be up and ready for the day at.." Raven checked a scroll Rei rarely ever see her use. "Nine. Be up and ready by nine."

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Sparring."

"Fuck me."

* * *

"So... are you just going to... be there?"

She was in her hammock, staring at the manifestation of her semblance at work. Abseil was currently floating at the foot of her bed, studying the tent around them. It was rather eery, as it was nearly pitch black and the most she was a pair of white orbs.

**_"Rest is not necessary for the likes of me. Even before I became yours."_** Rei's eye twitched at his wording. **_"My apologies. Even before you pulled me inside-" _**She wanted to kill it. **_"then, I never needed cycles to recuperate. I procured sustenance from the natural, infinite source that is negativity."_** Rei jolted as she felt some sort of thrum resonate within her mind, and as she watched Abseil inspecting one of her random sketches, she realized it was him. He was humming. _**"Currently, however, I am sustained through your aura. So long as you live, I exist. Even when you lack aura, I will be here." **_

"... Can you be killed?" Just in case.

**_"Should I ever stray loyalties from you, you may personally sever our connection permanently whenever you wish."_** It chilled her how calm Abseil was talking about her personally banishing him. **_"I advise you to truly think carefully if you ever wish for my existence to cease. I know not the extent doing so would ensue, you may risk lose the ability to use your semblance entirely thereon. Perhaps though, you may be able to pull the loyalty of another similar to me, but I cannot say for certain... In regards to your question, I cannot die from conventional means. If I am to be damaged in some sort of way, my form will regenerate with your aura providing the energy. But should it ever happen, I will perform to the best of my ability to avoid such things so that you may preserve your aura for when you require it."_**

So it was like a double edged sword, Rei reasoned. Her aura would potentially take double the drain if they sustain injuries. A fair trade off though, for what was essentially being a permanent two man team. And even then...**_"Can I... dispel? Dismiss? Whatever word fits--Would I be able to send you away to preserve my aura?"_**

**_"Certainly. Mind you, I will still be present within."_**

"I figured, but good to know for the future.."

Rei sighed as Abseil continued to explore her temporary personal tent, lamenting how much adjusting she'd have to do for the future now. She had a talking alpha beowolf for a semblance, one that can assist her in battle from what was implied in his words... How would she keep him secret from the rest of society? Would they trust her to keep him "on a leash", per se? Or would they want to be rid of him outright and maybe even turn on her? Either way, this new development was dangerous and she wasn't even sure she could tell Raven about it.

**_"Mind, the world cannot perceive me save for, perhaps, the one they call The Witch. My creator."_**

"Who is she?" Rei immediately asked. "Her name is Salem, right? Raven brought her up a few times, but it was always vague. All I know is she is incredibly dangerous and is like Ozpin, in a way."

He was a fountain of knowledge, she'd realized. She'd take advantage of that whenever she could.

Abseil turned to look at her, his skeletal jaw actually opening a bit but not moving with his words. **_"Salem is my creator. The Queen of all Grimm, if you will. She is, indeed, the equivalent to Ozma--Ozpin, currently. A dark equivalent, if you forgive the unintended joke."_** He paused for a beat. **_"I know you do not possess the most knowledge on this matter, the tale is rather extensive and thus, I will attempt to simplify the details without excluding the most important of them." _**He floated over to the foot of her hammock again.**_ "_****_Now then, where to begin... But at the beginning_**.

"**_When the world was conceived by the Brother Gods, Light and Darkness, the two created Humanity from Dust. Humanity was also gifted with free use of magic. Sometime into Humanity's prosperity, Salem was locked away within a tower--her origins are what inspires your typical knight and princess fiction that the world reads today."_** Huh.**_ "Salem was imprisoned by her grandfather for reasons unknown. Perhaps, he feared her prodigious growth in magic and perceived her darker nature within. No one knows. As for Ozma, he learned of her existence from word of mouth and set to free her. He succeeded. From there, the two lived happily as husband and wife._**

**_"However, Ozma fell ill. Desperate, Salem turned to beseech to the Brother Gods to pull Ozma away from the afterlife. At first, she begged the Brother of Light. He refused. He was adament that there must be balance between life and death. Dismayed, Salem approached the Brother of Darkness without speaking a word about approaching the elder Brother. The Brother of Darkness mistook her approach as true loyalty, and did as she requested, only for the Brother of Life to return Ozma to death once he learned of their deed. The Brother of Darkness revived Ozma once more before it came to light that Salem had actually approached the Brother of Light previously. The two Brother Gods clashed and eventually, came to agree that Salem had went against both of their intentions behind their backs before ultimately, they destroyed Ozma once more._**

**_"The Brother Gods were convinced that this would teach Salem balance. They were mistaken. Salem was enraged and vowed revenge and so, made her way across all the Kingdoms of old in order to form a rebellion against the Brother Gods as one. The Brother Gods sought to punish her once more, and Humanity as well. Humanity was extinguished before long by the Brother of Darkness who, with his Brother, shattered the moon as well, and Salem was cursed to an eternal life alone._**

**_"From there, Salem discovered the land of darkness where she exercised her power to create the first Grimm."_** Eyes wide at the outpour of information, Rei was about to ask several questions but felt a certain pressure in the mind that somehow told her to be patient. Miffed but resigning, she allowed Abseil to continue. **_"In one of the pools the Grimm were conceived from, she threw herself in. She was convinced doing so would finally end her life and reunite her soul with Ozma. Instead, the pools warped her body and mind, and she became the Witch as you know her in this current age._**

**_Defeated, she withdrew unto herself at a cottage. Much time has passed by this point, Humanity's destruction naught but a memory, and they already began to steadily rebuild. Perhaps an oversight by the Brothers, as Humanity was born from Dust, and Dust was still prevalent on Remnant. Whatever the case, Humanity was prospering once more. A particular day approached, and she found a stranger who was revealed to be Ozma, but reincarnated._**

**_They fell in love once more and produced four daughters--the original Maidens. Salem and Ozma were found to be the only humans capable of wielding magic, and so, they ruled the Kingdoms as they wished. Salem preferred brutality and absolute obedience with little in regards to individual freedom while Ozma did the best he could to be the other end of the balance. But as their family acted out their dailies, there were untold secrets between the two. Primarily, Salem's ambitions and plans regarding Humanity and the Brothers, as well as Ozma's covert accord with the Brother of Light involving a plan to lead Humanity down a brighter path and protecting the Relics--the Relics are ultimate tools of magic made from the Brother of Light, and they are intended to be used as an aid to guide Humanity. But of course, this was to be kept secret to Salem, for she would abuse their power._**

**_"Salem does not find Humanity to be fit for existence, and once she learned of the Relics, Ozma found she sought to erase Humanity altogether once more. The two fought, killing their daughters in the process, before Salem trumped Ozma in power and landed the killing blow. Thus, began, the many centuries thereon of Ozma reincarnating in order to save Humanity and end Salem's life. To this day, nothing has changed, save for the emergence of the Faunus. Word of mouth suggest their origins draw back to Ozma's first reincarnation as reinforcement from the Brother of Light against Salem as her hatred towards Humanity was suspected, but no one truly knows."_**

"... That's... a lot to take in.." And this was the condensed version? _My head is already hurting. And I have to start studies soon. Fuck my life... _"So basically, Ozp-Ozma and and Salem are in an eternal war against each other, one side trying to keep Humanity and Faunus alive and the other side wants to wipe out all existence with Grimm. And all of this because Salem wants revenge against the Brother Gods--who are real, apparently--for what they originally punished her with... Because she loved Ozma, and now, she thinks he's betraying her with their conflicting agendas." What was the saying some of the tribesmen say? Don't stick your dick in crazy?

**_"Correct."_**

"Magic exists, there are Maidens, Raven being one so she's a descendant, and now that I'm thinking about it..."

**_"You have deduced it nearly perfectly. Ozma founded the Academies as a force against Grimm and Salem, the students akin to pieces on a chess board as he wages war with her in the shadows."_** Rei winced, shaking her head with a sigh. **_"A correction, before we continue. The Spring Maiden, yes, inherited the magic. However, it is not due to being a descendant--one can argue she is a descendant possibly, as Ozma and Salem are ancient, but the magic of a Maiden passes on of its own will upon the vessel's death to those who are worthy. The alternative of transfer is through battle. Should a Maiden combat another woman of similar age within a range and falls, the victor absorbs the magic and becomes a Maiden herself."_**

"Not surprising. Raven kills a lot." Rei snorted. "So Ozma is using huntsmen as a force against Salem... We all know the grimm are a threat, sure, but no one knows about the true threat. We're being deceived, thrown at the unknown in hopes of ending their personal war."

**_"Essentially."_**

"For fuck's sake, it's like you can't ever trust the world." Rei groaned.

**_"One would be in lesser risk taking all that is known and unknown with a grain of salt, yes, and expect the worst of everything that could be."_**

"Gods." Rei bemoaned as she rested a hand against her head. "Is there no such thing as good anymore? What's the fucking point?"

**_"'Good' in itself is only as one, or a collective, may perceive it, that also can be 'evil' to others. Subjective. Furthermore, you would fare better allying yourself with others despite the unknown. You may even come across those more pure of heart than anyone else presently, though chances are slim."_**

"How about I trust myself and only myself to survive the shadow war and get what I want."

Rei flinched when Abseil took up the space millimeters from her nose again, the shadows playing about around his form sinister and dropping the temperature in the vicinity significantly.

His jaws opened again, but this time, they moved accordingly to his words.

**_"What is it that you truly desire then, Rei Akatsuki?"_**

His words vibrated in her core, a sense of déjà vu flooding her senses as a similar situation to this one occurred not too long ago. A sense of fear coursed through her veins, something that didn't occur often, it at all, ever since that night oh, so long ago. Her rage had always been there for her before fear could even grip her mind and body. As it was now, she hated the foreign shivering, the racing of her heart, the chills down her spine and tingling across the hairs of her body. She loathed being afraid, she didn't like losing control of her composure. Her rage, fine, she wasn't too in control of herself when she fell into it, but at least that was manageable. It was easy to recover from. And she can at least act.

But right now, she couldn't do anything but sit still, like the meek prey doing its best to escape the attention of the beastly predator.

"I... I-I... uh... I t-thought we agreed on b-burn-ni-..." Rei felt anger boiling underneath the fear. She hated herself for being reduced to a pathetic mess like this. Swallowing was hard as her mouth had suddenly gone dry. But she managed it. "I thought we agreed on b-b-fuck, burning Remnant and our enemies?"

**_"As you see fit, yes. However, such is a given, not truly what you wish to possess or attain absolutely by your death without lingering regret." _**Abseil canted his skull, curious but the image spawning from the very depths of hell.**_ "I shall ask again... What is it that you truly desire?"_**

._.. What is it that I want?_ Rei asked herself, trying to ignore Abseil still staring unblinkingly into her. _I want to eradicate grimm all across Remnant but that's just about it... Isn't it?... What do I want? Why do I want it? Ugh, these are way too deep for me to contemplate at this point in life... I just never really thought about it before..._

_Fuck, seriously, do I really have no clue?_ She sighed, head lolling forward as she closed her eyes. _I've always just looked forward. I ran for so long, now I can fight and have the means to survive most of whatever life can throw at me... Now I've got ancient beings to go up against, fucking add grimm and other possible factors to look over my shoulder for... When am I ever... going to... catch a break...?_

_... Right._

_"There we are."_

"You... know what I want?" Rei asked carefully, noting the increasing intensity of the glow of his eyes.

**_"You must speak for yourself, if only to prove your own self-commitment."_**

The staring contest lasted far longer than it should for a plain answer. Granted, it was a difficult one, but Rei knew what she wanted.

She only feared she wouldn't be able to stay true to herself.

"I want..." She rasped, not even realising she was embracing the comforting chill his presence brought about. Her head lolled further down, Rei Akatsuki giving into vulnerability utterly and completely as her forehead touched with Abseil's skeletal snout. Unbidden, a smile graced her features as a lone tear made its way down a cheek.

This was not her.

Rei Akatsuki was strong. She was sarcastic and cold. Perhaps even apathetic. She didn't give into weakness, she was never vulnerable. She swore never to shed a tear since the night of her aura's awakening. She relied on herself and only herself, Raven Branwen being a trusted ally, nothing more.

So who was this crying, vulnerable, seventeen year old huntsman-to-be that Rei hated oh, so very much? This one was everything Rei hated. It was because this one was a hidden reflection, as if she suddenly walked into a mirror and out came a different person entirely.

This one was hidden, locked safely away deep within the one-way mirror. But she was revealed so easily, to Rei's chagrin. This person was never meant to be seen, never meant to be brought out even when Rei was completely and utterly alone.

Why then? Why was she out?

Why did the guard drop-no, it wasn't a simple drop of the walls. They were completely shattered, and everything that made her into the person she was today, and everything that had broken her down into fine remnants of glass.

This was her, no doubt about it. There were, after all, two sides to a coin. The obverse, and the reverse, entwined.

She hated this. She hated this so much.

... But can you blame her for being relieved?

As she registered what she thought was warmth from Abseil's form, and it was indeed warmth, she contemplated how the utterly terrifying and ultimately unfamiliar being was able to glean so much of her vulnerability with nothing but some words and more oddly, fear straight to her heart? They have interacted for what, a couple of hours, if that? Most of it comprised of just questions upon questions, and answers layered with complex implications. There was hardly any reason at all for such a being to be able to grasp her in such a way.

Let alone, having her complete trust.

Perhaps, she wondered, it was because Abseil was essentially her semblance given form. It would make sense to trust an extension of one's self, right? Or was it because, somehow, when he had expressed his complete loyalty to her, she knew it was genuine? Hell, it could even be because of the fact he was so damned straight forward, to an extent, and voluntarily giving her answers without complication or attempting to hide anything.

There were so many factors, it almost made her head hurt. This wasn't normal. But it was, somehow. It was normal...

But, Rei being Rei, decided to simply not ponder about it at the moment. She trusted him, for some reason. Nothing could change that.

Abseil was true to her through and through, so she would have to reciprocate. And that meant no walls. That meant showing your vulnerabilities and being honest with them. That meant allowing the tears to be shed despite how much her instincts were whispering for her to wipe them away and stand strong.

... But she let herself be weak for now. It was okay. She would only get stronger for it in the end, right?

"I know what I desire..." Rei whispered, finding solace in the smooth bone as she ran her fingers across Abseil's snout. It was cold, but warm.

**_"Present your answer, Milady."_**

"I desire..." Her voice was soft, the words being carried nearly soundlessly.

She felt her soul thrum.

Looking at Abseil with her full attention, there were several moments before the shadowy skull made any sort of movement. And when he did...

The most terrifying, bone chilling sight of Abseil's fangs shifting into a predatory grin as wisps of darkness escaped from his maw caused her to freeze like a deer in high electric Dust-fueled headlights, the glow of his eyes flashing to a malevolent red for just a moment. The black horns adorning his skull extended by just the tiniest amount while she felt a warm claw prick at the flesh above her heart. Despite the sudden sense of burning on her chest, Rei couldn't break her eyes away from the bloodcurdling sight.

**_"Consider it yours, Reiya Akatsuki, Milady,"_** His voice vibrated harshly in her heard, possessing a wraith-like quality despite the smooth baritone. And it was cold. **_"Not even the shattered moon will escape our reach."_**

She envisioned blood seeping from Abseil's maw, bright crimson and oddly alluring.

Rei fainted.

* * *

Dropping his pen at the moment, the man paused in the deplorable task that was paperwork--mounds of it--and looked out the window to his study. The sky was alit just slightly, the black of night turning to the deeper and darker shades of blue while the sun took its time to rise. But still high in the sky remained the moon of Remnant, and the man searched its fragments behind his spectacles before sighing and wiping them clean with a cloth.

Returning his attention to his current task, the man let loose yet another sigh and took a large gulp of the very lovely coffee he held dear in his favourite mug. Groaning as he felt the very worn fountain pen greet his fingers and palm, he continued his paperwork. And while he wondered if he was masochistic for willingly filling them out instead of dumping it on his most trustworthy advisor, a volatile storm rumbled within his mind despite the calm of his exterior.

"And so it begins."

"Headmaster." Pausing once more, Ozpin curiously regarded Glynda Goodwitch as she stood tiredly against the frame of his open door. It was a rare sight to behold. The fabled and feared Goodwitch, posture slacking, eyes weary rather than stern, and dressed in clothing fit for casual greets rather than her uniform.

He hoped he could capture an image from the camera's and share it with the other professors. They would have a field-day.

"What on earth are you doing at this time of night?" Goodwitch asked tiredly, eyeing his paperwork with narrowed eyes. Possibly with relief as well. She knew very well he could easily delegate the papers for her to take responsibility over and the fact that he was actually filling them out meant he was committed.

For now.

"You're trying to distract yourself." Goodwitch stated before he could answer. "You only ever do paperwork at this ungodly hour when you have too much on your mind. Or stress."

"How right you are, as always, Glynda." Ozpin chuckled as he straightened the papers before resuming in the riveting process that was scribbling his signature thousands and thousands of times. "But worry not, I do nit believe it is something to worry too much over."

"And yet, you do this." she countered. Ozpin would bet that if she had her crop at the moment, she would have levitated the papers into a filing cabinet for later despite his say-so. "You should rest, Headmaster."

She will always retain her formality, no doubt. Amused, Ozpin waved a carefree hand. "These are all the papers submitted for enrollment." Scratching the back of his head, silvery hair somewhat messy, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy was sheepish. "I need to catch up due to... forgetting about these. And I have four months to do so. Better to get it done and over with before I have to prescribe myself medication for blood pressure regulation if I procrastinate again."

Goodwitch sighed, not really surprised at all. "Why don't you leave those for me, Headmaster? You still have the late submissions to go over, and they're smaller in number."

"I've already completed them." Ozpin chuckled as he indicated a separate pile by his computer. Humming, Goodwitch walked over and picked up the stack, rifling through them one by one before frowning at the last form.

"I do not recall seeing her on the list of late submissions before printing these out." Goodwitch gave Ozpin a pointed glare, the latter deciding to keep his eyes on his paperwork to avoid the piercing stare of the woman. "Headmaster, what are you planning? You don't mean to enroll this person illegitimately, do you?"

"I have complete faith that she will pass the entrance exams and everything that follows up until Initiation." Ozpin answered calmly. "She has incredibly potential, and will no doubt be a fine addition to the student body."

"Headmaster..." Goodwitch groaned with a shake of her head, going over the form again and reading through. "Hm... Odd name. But traditional, being from Anima..." A short gasp from Goodwitch. "Her home was... Shion..."

"Yes... An unfortunate passing of events." Ozpin sighed, regretting the destruction of the settlement and its inhabitants. They hadn't been able to deploy any huntsmen in time... Gripping his pen tightly, he resumed his work once again. "She is still in Anima, although she's been nomadic as of late."

"Hmm..." Goodwitch placed the form back into the stack before tucking them under her arm for filing later. Looking out to the sky just as Ozpin did, the woman frowned at the sight of the moon. "Headmaster..."

"I know, Glynda." Ozpin frowned as well as he signed off another form. "Forces are shifting into position as we speak... We must make haste, for I imagine that these next few years will prove critical to reaching our goals..."

At her silence, the Headmaster offered her a mug of coffee, freshly poured as a result of his supreme multitasking. Refusing politely, Goodwitch bit her lip as her nerves tingled with apprehension. A weary chuckle echoed in the study as she moved to draw the curtains over the window after turning on a few more lamps.

"The wolves have finally come out to play tonight, Glynda. We must prepare ourselves."

* * *

The world came into view rather slowly for Rei, colours blurring together with her eyes' attempt to adjust to the light and her sense of hearing somewhat muted. She heard voices and other activity that told of the Tribe being active as well as the occasional bark of orders from Rav-

_Shit! Is it already nine?!_ Immediately blinking away the drowsiness before sitting up and launching her covers--_When did I slip those on?_\--off the hammock, Rei quickly undressed and searched for a more suitable attire for her spar with the Spring Maiden.

**_The time is a quarter past eight._** Rei jumped as she recalled the existence of her new permanent companion, his voice soft but clear from within. Memories of last night slammed into the forefront of her mind and she winced at the last conversation they shared before her... rest.

She didn't faint. Not at all.

**_I roused you with enough time to prepare, there is no need for hurry._** Abseil assured her as she slowed down, Rei sighing while slipping on durable trousers and a tuni-

"What's this?" she asked, deadpan. Her eyes were centered on a brand new insignia above her heart where there were none before.

**_You may consider it a physical representation of our pact._**

It was almost like a tattoo in appearance. Stylized in black tribal vectors formed a fractured crescent moon with what seemed to be an inky black substance of a sort seeping from within the cracks. All of that enveloped within the closing maw of what she recognised as Abseil's horned form, as if his fangs were threatening to pierce whatever remained of the moon. The rest of his form casted a shadow over the entire insignia.

Touching it lightly, Rei nearly flinched at the sudden warmth that radiated from what she considered something more of a _brand_ as the insignia felt engraved into her flesh.

"What the hell..."

**_My apologies if you consider it unsightly._**

"No, it's... cool." Rei knew her response was doubtful but pressed on before he could call her out on it. "I'm guessing this is permanent?"

**_Indeed, though it shall be removed from existence should our pact is severed._**

"I..." Rei ignored the quiver in her voice. "I..I can trust you..." She did, and Abseil only responded with a sense of agreement and the feeling of complete loyalty to her.

Regaining her composure, Rei finished donning her outfit and made sure to wear a tunic that covered the insignia before making a quick trip towards Raven's tent. She ignored the passing tribesmen and the calls of acknowledgement, as per usual. Entering Raven's tent brought the smell of lilacs with a hint of liquor as always, in addition to the ever-present red glow from her paper lanterns that were currently dimming with each passing second due to their dying wicks.

The packet of papers were in plain sight by the wartable. Carefully picking them up, Rei flipped through each and every one, her eyes drooping more and more as the tells of an annoying headache became present in her mind.

She had so much to study for.

Sighing in defeat, Rei brought the papers back into her temporary tent and carefully read through them while she had some spare time, Abseil giving her reminders every fifteen minutes as her spar with Raven neared.

_Grimm studies, aura and semblance, Dust and general history, Dust and its applications, mathematics, combat strategems, huntsmen need-to-knows and theory_...And the list of topics went on.

**_You may reinforce your education with my knowledge of select subjects you are required to learn. As for the rest, you will likely need to explore on your own._**

_Ugh_.

Forty minutes later found her walking up to Raven at a level field, the latter already having drawn her weapon and eyeing Rei expectantly. "Are you ready?" the Maiden asked, and before Rei could answer or ready her weapons, Raven struck.

Rei _barely_ avoided the hilt of Raven's weapon aiming for her forehead as it grazed by, her instincts firing reactions upon reactions as their spar began in proper fashion. For the moment, Raven seemed content on making Rei focus on the defensive, working on her dodging and blocking, her clawed gauntlets capable of surviving an encounter with the older woman's blade but unable to do anything in terms of landing a hit on the woman.

Gritting her teeth as she was shoved meters away, Rei shot forward and fired four consecutive times at the Maiden. Raven scoffed as she deflected each of the eight rounds that came her way, meeting Rei's incoming fist with the flat of her blade before driving her knee into the teen's belly. Rei was forced to heave and spat whatever collected saliva she possessed onto the ground, only to be denied a chance to land back on her feet via a kick to her temple. Her body ragdolled across the field, Rei groaning as she tasted dirt but she quickly rolled away as Raven appeared before her and gave a brutal axe kick to the ground.

_This always fucking sucks_. Rei bemoaned internally as she wiped the blood from her mouth. She ignored the pain of the bruise quickly forming on her temple.

**_If I may,_** she heard Abseil whisper, **_take this chance to listen carefully to your instincts._**

_I ALWAYS_\--Rei ducked as Raven's odachi sailed over her head--_listen to my instincts!_

**_Indeed. However, you merely use them in order to support your own skill and tactics. Would it not prove advantageous to assimilate my own instincts, that of an alpha beowolf, then work completely in tandem with your combat prowess?_**

_I can do that?_ Rei attempted to slash across Raven's abdomen. To her pleasure, she'd managed to cut a part of the Maiden's dress.

But nothing more, of course. Said Maiden took a moment to address her damaged attire before attacking once more, Rei concluding that she _might_ have struck a nerve within the rogue huntsman.

**_Naturally, with my assistance_**. Abseil replied as Rei suffered the flat of Raven's blade again, this time striking her across the cheek and nearly causing her to bite her tongue. **_Do I have your permission?_**

_So long as I don't get the sudden urge to eat humans or sniff a dog from behind, do it_. Rei acquiesced, feeling the familiar chill of Abseil once more caressing her form.

Rei felt her heart rate slow down, just as the world around her did by a moderate fraction. She was able to perceive more colours in the environment, her hearing becoming sensitive and able to determine finer detail from afar, and her reactions sharpen nearly to a razor's edge. And finally, she could feel the negativity...there was so much of it, restrained as it was, from Raven, and she felt more coming from the direction of the camp whether they were actively releasing negativity or bottling up their pains and regrets.

But none of this overwhelmed her like Rei initially half-expected. Rather, she was able to flow along with it as if she was a driver inside a car. None of it wrestled any control away, and she was able to manipulate the power within the flow.

Smirking at the rush, Rei pounced.

Raven's eyes widened at the sudden action, for she didn't expect Rei to surge forward _on all fours,_ much less from where she had been laying on the ground on her side. The Maiden had to step back and brought up a gloved hand to powerfully capture Rei's steel enclosed one, only for Rei take advantage of their current half-grapple and contorting like a professional acrobat, swinging her entire lower body upwards like some bastardized improvisation of a child playing on the monkey bars. With barely any space between Rei's form and the field, even with Raven's superior height, the teen managed to smash her booted heel into the Maiden's chin.

The two disconnected, with Raven stumbling back to clutch her chin and ringing head and Rei landing perfectly on her feet, knees bent and claws out ready to rend. The teen shot forward again, this time on two feet, and leapt high, fists clasped together on her head. Raven barely had any time to look up, squinting past the light of the sun, and use both of her forearms to avoid being pummeled in the face.

_This is amazing, Abseil!_ Rei praised as she landed in a crouch, tackling Raven in the abdomen before the latter can do anything and forcing her onto her back. Straddling the Maiden, Rei's fist became a blur of motion as she struck at Raven's face.

**_With time, you will naturally begin to experience this out of your own ability without my assistance. _Tear her apart, Milady.**

As for Raven, she was stupefied at the sudden change of pace. It was even difficult to defend against the assault now! _What the fuck is going on?! Since when could she--ARGH, YOU FUCKING GOT MY EYE!_ Rei was never able to land more than a few hits on her throughout an entire spar before. But now, for every one she blocked, around two would make it past her defences. Such a vast improvement should be impossible, seeing as their last spar was nigh a week ago. What had changed from before then, til now? Even the night prior, there wasn't any notable change in Rei's prowess, and she'd been fighting against above-average grimm!

When Rei clocked the Maiden right on the nose, Raven finally had enough as she forced Rei off with a blast of Wind. Eyes glowing with the power of a Maiden, Raven stood to her full height of 6'2" as a dangerous grin crossed her features. "Want to turn it up a notch, do you? Let's see how you can handle this!"

Rei blinked as a spike--she hoped that Raven had the decency to blunt it, but she really wouldn't put it past the Maiden "forgetting" to do so--of pure ice shot towards her middle. Narrowing her eyes as she pivoted to the side, the icicle making it through the trunk of a poor tree, Rei raised a closed fist and fired off a few rounds at the Maiden. Raven, as expected, deflected every shot and fired back with both waves of projected Dust from her blade and more icicles. Rei continued her salvo, taking a few steps forward all the while, pivoting once to avoid Raven's ranged attacks then once more to barely graze two icicles that shot past at the same time before ending the motion with another pair of powerful rounds firing from the barrels of one of her gauntlets.

"My, my," Raven remarked with her full grin on display, visibly impressed as the two continued their back-and-forth, the distance between them closing with every ranged attack. "Where is this coming from? Did you inhale Dust before our spar, per chance?"

"Nice joke, Raven." Rei returned the smirk as their deadly projectiles devestated the nature around them. "I wish I can tell you my secrets, buuuut," Rei suddenly broke off from their ranged deadlock and sprinted forward, preparing a powerful slash with one arm and keeping Raven occupied with rounds from the other, "that would kill the surprise!"

"I'll admit, it's plenty surprising to begin with!" Raven yelled back, allowing her aura to tank Rei's shots as the two met in yet, another grapple, both grinning and free of injuries thanks to their auras. "I suppose I'm going to have to beat it out of you!" Raven's blade began to overpower Rei's claws, the physical strength the two easily demonstrated. It wasn't surprising, this was Raven--she was a Maiden and a powerful former huntsmen whose very principles revolved around strength.

But there was one thing Rei already had an advantage over Raven.

After training for years upon years, and then some after graduating from Beacon Academy, Raven was no doubt very powerful and skilled in her craft. But that also involved years and years of refining her own technique and routine, coupled with textbook motions as she learned how to wield her weapon as well as close quarters huntsman-level combat. It was almost autonomous in a way.

Rei didn't have a routine or any specific technique. Raven only taught her the barest essentials on how to survive as it was, with Rei constantly attempting to adapt to a style that would work. This made the teen unpredictable on one hand, even if she lacked experience and mastered skill on the other. Not to mention, she wasn't taught any traditional motions like Raven had been. And that was Raven's own fault, leaving the teen to teach herself how to fight rather than providing any sort of practical lessons other than the likes of "Don't be slow." or "Try not to eat shit when your opponent sends you to the ground.", or something along those lines.

Then there was the kicker. While Raven had merely been provoking certain reactions out of the teen whenever they sparred, a false opening for a claw swipe here or a supposed weak stance for a sweeping kick there, she hadn't been studying practiced motions on her opponent like Rei did her, because Rei didn't have any. It was all mostly instinct and self-taught strategies and fail-safes. She just lacked the means to actually land a hit on Raven whose counter to her adaptations was speed and years of pure experience.

But now, with Abseil's instincts infused with her own, coupled with a boost to her perceptions of just about everything?

Rei had a fighting chance. An actual chance.

As Raven finally broke Rei's form, she made to painfully punish the teen with an Dust-infused upperslash. The plan was to knock Rei painfully onto her arse and break her aura in one move.

That didn't happen. Even with her enhanced prowess her active Maidenhood provided.

A tendril of darkness deflected Raven's blade as Rei stepped right into her personal space and landed a punch square in the face once again. It was powerful enough that when Raven slowly turned to look the teen in the eyes, a couple of painful pops sounded off from the Maiden's neck. "You found your semblance."

For a second, Rei looked surprised at what had just occurred, before she gave a sheepish shrug. "You got me red-handed."

_Abseil?_

**_Think nothing of it, Milady, my abilities are yours to wield. Go forth and manipulate the umbra of the world as you see fit_**.

"Curious... Never thought your semblance would be of shadow." Raven mused.

"Shadow manipulation," Rei nodded as she retreated a few steps, "Not sure what the extent of it is though."

"Hmm..." Relaxing her stance, Raven sheathed her odachi. "I am cutting this session short." At Rei's expression, she elaborated. "I wanted to evaluate your weekly progress, and I'm very much satisfied for now. Besides," she nodded her head with a smug smirk, "You've already broken a sweat or two, whereas I barely got started. That tells a lot."

"Damn," Rei muttered as she wiped her forehead, "I was doing so well..."

"Make no mistake, I am impressed. You fought like a feral animal." That lifted Rei's spirits a bit. "You are getting faster, and your strikes are more calculated--good on you for predicting my movements and exploiting them. You're not burning through your aura needlessly either, keep up the efficiency. But, you still need to prepare for the scenario where your foe is much faster and much less prone to surprise than I, and I can think of several at the moment who would bury you in the ground if given the chance." Rei frowned with thought. "You can't rely on the element of surprise nor can you expect your foes to allow you to easily take advantage of their openings, if at all. There are counters to counters, after all. Generally, though, you're at a satisfactory point in the road. It won't be too long now, you just need more experience."

Raven then looked up at the sky and narrowed her eyes. "Cutting this short makes it convenient for me this time around. I have something to take care of in Vale, I was planning to leave early a couple of hours from now but I rather get it out of the way as soon as possible rather than risk being late."

Rei arched a brow but Raven didn't say anything further. Shrugging, Rei began dusting herself off. "All right then. When should we expect you to be back?"

"Mm... By evening. If I'm not back by then, assume I'm spending extra time squashing ants under my boot."

"Noted."

Nodding, Raven donned her mask and opened her crimson portal off to the side. "Let Vernal know that she's in charge of preparing lunch when the hunting party returns later. As for the rest of the tribe, you need not worry. I've given them their orders for the next several hours."

"Got it." Rei nodded as Raven stepped into her portal.

"Oh, and before I forget."

"What?"

Raven was giving that same dangerous grin again, Rei could tell she was even through the mask. "We will still have our weekly spars to check your progress, but one day, we _will_ engage all out, with nothing held back. I want to see who would be able to kill the other should we are ever forced to when that day comes around."

Rei then grinned herself, mirroring Raven's expression without any hint of reluctance nor fear of what was to come in her future. "I'll make sure to win."

"We shall see." Raven chuckled before winking out of sight soundlessly.

Shaking her head, Rei sighed as the adrenaline fled her body, her senses returning to normal as she came back down from her combat high. _That was something else. Got my blood pumping for the rest of the day though. Thanks for the assist, Abseil. _She felt a thrumming equivalent of "You're welcome." within her mind. Turning on her heel, Rei began her trek back towards the main encampment. She and Abseil remained silent for a few minutes before the former gave a snort, apparently amused.

"Umbra, huh?" Rei asked out loud, recalling her partner's words from before. "I feel like that should've been your name."

**_Why, of course. _**

Was that sarcasm she detected in the tone-dead spectre's words?

* * *

The field was covered in a wide expanse of light snow, as it was nearing the start of winter's end. Several tells of the coming spring came in the form of certain flowers beginning to bloom past the snow, standing out against the flowers that only grew in the coldest of conditions with their more vibrant colours. Around the edge of the field were great pine trees, and to complete the beautiful image was the sight of the dim sunlight attempting to shine past the clouds on this particular remote location.

Her boots crunched quietly on the snow as she made her way towards the cliff, dressed in a black gown rather than her usual combo of both black and red. She lacked her weapon, leaving it safely stored away out of respect for this site, though she could easily get it if a situation came to call for it.

Reaching the edge of the cliff, Raven kneeled, bare knee touching the snow. The cold didn't bother her though, and she was focused on the words engraved beautifully before her eyes.

_"Thus kindly, I scatter..."_

"...Good to see you again." Raven started. It used to be awkward every time she started a little over a decade ago and on, but she'd gotten used to it in recent years.

She wished she didn't have to in the first place.

"I would've visited on your day as usual, but the new semester is starting in four months and... Yang, she's going to Beacon. I figure visiting you on that day as usual would risk her being here as well and seeing me, she'll most likely visit you too before she starts the year, along with your daughter.

"...They're doing well, as usual. I know your daughter is blazing through Signal with flying colours, she'll be the top student in her year." A chuckle. "From what I've learned, she's a bit obsessive over her weapon kind of like you were over yours. It's a mecha-shift .50 cal rifle/scythe. You would've been proud of what she's managed to achieve with the weapon she's made in the little time she's had it. A prodigy, honestly, she's even utilizing its recoil to help direct her momentum with her semblance.

"My-...Yang is enjoying her brand new motorcycle. Calls it Bumblebee. A real terror on the streets, I hear, and I heard she's been looking for me. My sources say that Hei is on her list of contacts to try, I can think of nothing to do but laugh at the men when she eventually comes his way with that temper of hers. Anyway, like I said, she's headed for Beacon soon. You'd be proud of both of the girls.

"Taiyang is still staying near Patch to be there for the girls, he hasn't accepted any out of kingdom missions yet. I heard he's trying stand up comedy, actually. Idiot. His puns are horrible, and I bet that they're his go-to's in his gigs. You know what he said once, when my curiosity decided to get the better of me one night?" Raven cleared her throat, rolling her eyes as she thought of the joke. "I fell down two flights of stairs today. _Aura_-n't you glad I walked away without a scratch?" She snorted. "They weren't. Demanded a refund and all. And I'm certain they damaged his pride more than the stairs damaged his aura.

"Qrow is still spending most of his time out in the badlands. Scouting. He actually visited last night to deliver me a message from Ozpin about an offer for my prodigy--she's going to Beacon too, once she passes all the entrance exams. An olive branch for now. After passing that along, Qrow returned to his duties, though he mentioned he'll be coming back a bit after the semester begins.

"Speaking of Rei, apparently her aura signature, Qrow mentioned Ozpin saying, is similar to _her_. But not the same. Just similar. There's a chance that cunt is watching her, so a part of the offer I mentioned earlier is Rei participating Beacon not just to become a hunstman--which is actually what she wants to do now--in order to minimize the risk of being watched. And being close to the Spring Maiden I'm 'keeping' away from them. Rei has also unlocked her semblance. Shadow manipulation, apparently, and even managed to land quite a few hits on me during our spar not an hour ago. She's improved massively, fought like an animal in a way I've never seen her do. I don't know how, but I suspect it has something to do with her semblance somehow. It's far-fetched, but it's the only thing I can think of. Last night, she took down a pack of beowolves and a couple of ursae, and an odd alpha beowolf on her own. Killed it in a rather unique way I've never seen before, like she vaporized it with her aura. We're planning to experiment with that when we have the time.

"As for myself..." Raven sighed. "As for myself, I'm still running the tribe, as I'm sure you know. Yes, roll your eyes and scoff, but it's my duty." Like Yang and the rest of the family is supposed to be. she could almost hear Summer whisper with disdain in the sudden howl of wind. "I'm keeping tabs on the underworld of things like usual and I hear White Fang activity is growing outside of Vale. I suspect they'll be taking less subtle actions in the months to come. Not my prerogative to handle though. The huntsmen can handle that shit out themselves."

Several moments of silence passed, Raven every now and then clenching her fists in the snow and gritting her teeth out of frustration. The shame returned in full force, the guilt having never fully gone away. Thoughts of Yang and the family tormented her even as she tried to steel her emotions every single day that passed for the last eleven years. Hell, Rei was a constant reminder of what could have been, what _should _have been.

The tribe, the raids, even _her own principle _was all just a front now. Raven was trying to escape her own emotions, yet _nothing _worked. This was her punishment from the Gods, she lamented, though knowing full well that really, ultimately, she'd brought this all down upon herself.

It was all her fault.

Raven told herself this almost every time she opened her eyes for the day. Whenever she witnessed a death, either enemy or ally. When she trained Rei to become stronger. When she watched Yang and Ruby doing their best to succeed in their endeavors on their own. When she watched Taiyang stare off into nothing, only to put on a grin whenever he was around the two kids _for _the two kids. Whenever Qrow drank. Whenever she looked at herself in the mirror.

It was Raven Branwen's fault. She was to blame.

_I am to blame for this. I am to blame for this. I am to blame for this. I am to blame for this._Every. Day. Day and night. Awake and asleep.

"I should've been there..." Raven finally choked out. She _refused _to let tears escape, even now, in front of gravestone of Summer Rose. Her closest friend. "If I... Had it not been for my leaving to claim the tribe as my own, I could've _been there. _I probably would have been standing right there next to you at the very spot you were... killed... At the very last, had I known where you were, had I _bothered _to keep tab's on everyone's safety, I could've at the very least, made a portal to you and pull you out of the danger. Instead, my philosophies, small as they were, small as they _are_, left you to be killed alone when I _should've. BEEN THERE!_" Raven furiously brought her fist down onto the the snow, bloodying her knuckles against the harder clumps of ice. She kept her aura from healing the injury and allowed the pain to swell. "And then, I had the gall to leave _permanently _and you know very well what happened after. I almost did the fucking same toOUR CHILDREN!" Raven cried out as she, for the second time, brought her fist down, cutting deeper this time and spreading the red stains across the snow. "Had it not been for Qrow, they would've _died _to the most fodder of grimm, and my brother was _already drunk off his arse_! _Again, _I leave our family to fend for themselves. _Again, _my actions allowed what could've been _more _death in our fractured, struggling, family...

"Why am I such a monster of a person...I became the very thing we all grew up to eradicate...

"I'm just as bad as Salem and Ozpin, Summer," Raven whispered, fraught with her self loathing. "... One thing we all share, is that we're at least partly responsible for the death of our loved ones..."

Her eyes burned painfully. And one a shuddering breath, Raven Branwen gave in and the first tears she had shed in over eleven years mixed with her blood on the snow underneath her.

She cried for quite some time, years upon years' worth of tears spilling out to meet with the site closest she'd ever have to feeling Summer Rose's presence, the rest of the family notwithstanding. And unfortunately, not that she would have expected it to happen anyway, releasing her sorrows in the form of her tears did not relieve any of the weight nor did it ease the pain the slightest amount.

If anything, the burden grew.

"...At the very least, for you, I won't let anything happen to them." Raven finally managed to say when nearly an hour passed. Her voice cracked and ached with her pain, but she pushed on anyway. "I may not be able to walk back into their lives, if ever, but I can at least protect our family from further damage. From death. Until they've lived out the most they can with their lives and death comes in the form of old age."

Standing, Raven's bloodied hand twitched as she finally registered the shards of ice and something else she was holding. Holding her palm out before her, Raven studied the crumpled, blood stained petal that once belonged to a beautiful rose.

It was white.

Looking down, she finally noticed the rest of the white rose in a state of varying damage due tk her outburst. The stem was mostly intact, crystallised in a way that was both unnatural as it was beautifullike the one, Raven thought with a mirthless chuckle, they were meant for. More shards of ice lay scattered about, stained with her blood along with the rest of the rose petals.

Her lips set in a thin line, Raven kneeled and held an open palm over the offering. Her eyes were ablaze in the next second, and utilizing her Maidenhood, she catalysed the Ice Dust that had been used to crystallise the rose and at the same time, repaired the damage so that the rose was whole once more. In the end, it was almost as if nothing happened to Summer's namesake.

Picking up the brand-new crystalline white rose, Raven held it against the gravestone and flared her Maidenhood for the final time for this meeting. From the gravestone extended a hoop, of sorts, and that was where Raven deposited the rose through its stem. The hoop held the offering securely next to the engraving of Summer's full name, there was no chance of the rose ever being dislodged unless someone decided to deliberately break the extension and remove the rose altogether.

"I promise you, Summer..." Raven vowed as she opened a portal behind her, "I will not let death come to claim our family. And for when it's time for my own passing, I pray you can find it within yourself to forgive me..."

And then she was gone.

There was never so much negativity gathered in the area before now, and it caught the attention of grimm, mostly beowolves, before they were drawn to the forest just outside the grave site.

* * *


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: I do not RWBY or anything of its universe. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and only Rooster Teeth. **

* * *

The months passed, and Rei had been devoting all her time to her studies (_fuck_ advanced mathematics) and exploring her partnership with Abseil. Since then on this warm and bright day, Rei was steadily on the way in being optimally prepared for Beacon Academy and its initiation.

Raven was oddly more cold as of late as well. Ever since she returned that one late evening, she'd been the epitome of withdrawn. Guarded personified, barely any words were given to Rei and the others save for orders and instruction. When it came to the spars, Raven would say nothing and only giving a purely objective assessment of Rei's prowess at the end of the day. And whenever the Maiden developed any free time, she'd spend it within her personal tent with an unspoken order across the entire tribe not to bother her. So invested into her solitude that Raven had given Rei a permanent personal tent, the latter somewhat concerned but more relieved she could live out her free time and nights without having her personal space invaded.

With Beacon's quickly approaching start, Vernal's training with Raven was exponentially more grueling. The girl would return to camp bloody and beaten half to death, steadily improving her skill but also earned concern over her near-death experiences that was the brutality of Raven Branwen. The false Maiden was too exhausted to even insult Rei and the others these passing months, only coming out of her tent to fulfill orders and her duties, as well as to die--_train_ with Raven.

Abseil was starting to show some development himself. Rei brought up his lack of social skills--not that he needed them, but it would make for less formalised, archaic structured conversations and make it easier for Rei to interpret his words. He had been learning to use more modern vocabulary, only barely in these past three and a half months, but Rei _still_ couldn't get him to use actual contractions in his speech. The spectre would still prefer saying "cannot" over "can't" and the like, but there was nothing she could do about that, it seems. Abseil was slowly picking up on expressing emotion as well, in addition to putting more than his objective personality into their dialogue. That was a relief, at least, it didn't feel so much like talking to an Atlas automaton anymore.

Together, with Abseil, Rei was starting to master the more tactile portion of her semblance. And as it turned out, shadow (Abseil _insisted_ in referring to it as "umbra") was very versatile in what she could apply to it. Her limits were her imagination, and the two sole weaknesses being that if the sun was out, it took more out of her aura to exercise the ability... and she couldn't sustain the shadows after they make contact with something solid, even with Abseil's help. Say she decided to make a blade of darkness in the midst of battle. Rei wouldn't be able to reliably utilize the blade, as it would dissipate seconds later once it was used to strike or block. Beyond that, so far, she could manipulate the shadows to do something as mundane as being extra extremities for whenever she was lazy, to the moderacy of creating a still illusion of herself, and as extreme as cutting through several inches of steel so long as she focused the edges to be sharp enough--and many applications in between. Needless to say, Rei was very satisfied with what she could do as far as her semblance goes even as she'd just begun utilizing it since the spar with Raven a few months back.

At the moment, said teen was currently packing her things. She was preparing for transport via a portal from Raven. Today was the final entrance exam for the late enrollees, that being a general combination of all the things she'd studied for as well as the day she would compete against other enrollees for the last few openings remaining in Beacon. Rei was confident she would pass, having already packed several outfits and her recently bought armour for her time at Beacon. The few assessments she had to take a few times prior in the last few months had been given online, and Rei had used Raven's scroll--the encrypted device used for the sake of not giving away the tribe's position--to log in for her attendance and complete the tests.

Unbeknownst to anyone but the dark spectre of her semblance she had made a pact with, Rei was attempting to squash the small shots of nervousness that plagued her state of being. She would be spending the next four years of her life in an unknown territory within an unfamiliar kingdom. Not only that, but there were going to be so many she'd have to spend time around, not even considering just her three teammates-to-be after initiation. And those three were only another bag of anxiety she was dealing with. Not that Rei cared for how they might turn out to be or anything, but she nearly obsessives over what privacy she had, and from what Raven had said, they were all going to be roomed with each other.

Rei would kill if she ended up being roomed with a typical jock... Or any jock, really.

She also feared for the possibility of not being able to train on her own with Abseil all that much after getting into a team. There were surely going to be more of a focus on teamwork-based exercises and strategem both employed by whatever professor in charge of teaching them such things (Glynda Goodwitch, Rei recalled from reading up on Beacon) and by her teammates should they care to which is a high possibility if being high in the ranks in terms of teams was an interest of theirs. Again, she valued her time alone, even more the time she spent conversing and training with Abseil without worry. She didn't want either of those things to be taken away, especially against her own wishes.

**_I do not believe you have reason to worry, Reiya._** Abseil assured her with a hum. Rei paused in her packing to take a calming breath as amusement mixed with her anxiety upon hearing the alpha beowolf say her name... She'd quickly gotten weirded out by his usage of "Milady" and when asked why he had called her as such, he had responded with the fact he considered her superior.

They had a long talk afterwards about mutual, equal respect.

**_Do not forget, we always have our internal method of communication should speaking aloud prove unwise_**.

"'Do not forget we can always communicate mentally to each other if it's risky to do so out loud, or if we're in public.'" Rei tutted expectantly, lips quirking up.

**_Do not forget, we may resort to communication through our mental link if speaking to one another out loud risks our well-beings._**

Face-palming, Rei sighed. "Abseil..."

**_... Do not forget, we can always communicate mentally to each other if it is risky to do so out loud, or if we are in public._**

"Better. Contractions should be used though, makes it less tedious to speak."

**_I apologise for your patience being of lower capacity than my own._**

"Good on you for using sarcasm, but you can still say that same thing in a simpler way...And you're an arse."

**_Noted._**

Rei snorted as she finished packing her other essentials. "See? Isn't that a lot faster to say than 'I shall consider thine words of wisdom for the morrow next thou consult mine dialogue'?"

**_You exaggerate._**

"But my point stands."

**_Perhaps_**.

Rei rolled her eyes. "Arse, I say."

**_I have been learning from the best._**

"Oi!"

"Who are you talking to?" Startled, Rei cursed herself for her carelessness as she walked to the entrance of her tent, swinging the flap open and revealing a confused Vernal. "No one's here?"

"Just reliving a funny book I read." Rei lied easily, earning a snort from the one in her head at her expense. "So, just happened to walk by while I fucking around, or?"

"Uh, right," Vernal shook her head, short dark and spiky hair glinting in the sunlight.

_She probably just took a shower._ Rei figured, also detecting the faint smell of shampoo. Peach specifically.

Yeah, Rei had begun to utilize her heightened senses and instincts on her own too. It wasn't second nature yet, but getting there.

Vernal looked her up and down with critical, sky blue eyes, her attire consisting of furs, a leather two-tone vest of beige and brown, plain black choker, magenta leggings with one side being torn from the shin down though both legs covered with leather armour, tied brown boots and a brown belt. All in all, the outfit looked good on her, Rei had to admit. Vernal would be quite the looker if she grew out her hair, but this appearance wasn't bad in itself at all.

"Raven asked me to check on you to see if you were ready to go." Vernal explained, eyeing the one case Rei possessed for lugging nearly full to the brim. _Thank Dust_ for Spacial Dust-enhanced storage. "So... Four years, huh?"

"What?" Rei chuckled as she went back to packing, Vernal leaning against a tent support at the entrance. "Going to miss me?"

"More like excited to take your tent once you go." was the snark she received. "Fucking hell, she's going to be more focused on beating me senseless without you around. And dumping more shit to do on me!"

"I mean, you've always wanted Raven to acknowledge you more." Rei shrugged as she tossed in her inventory of ammunition next. _Burn... Freeze... Shock... and Gravity? When did I get these? Going to have to test those rounds sometime soon..._ She almost snorted at an image of an ursa flailing about as it slowly rose into the sky. _Armour piercing, hollow points, explosive..._

What? Can't blame a girl for wanting to carry around an arsenal.

"Shut up." She could feel Vernal rolling her eyes with the tell-tale blush that spoke volumes of her feelings towards Raven, even against the other girl's tanned-skin it was rather easy to point out. Damned near everyone in the tribe knew Vernal crushed on the Maiden. As for Raven, Rei was pretty certain the former simply did her best to ignore it entirely. "... Hey.."

"Hm?" Rei turned her head, metal polish and oil thrown haphazardly into her case.

Abseil apparated into view, looking Vernal in the eyes rather closely. **_"She struggles to find words. False Maidenhood devours her confidence when faced with expectation. Fear and dwindling hope plagues her being as much as her rage boils for the blood within those responsible for the death of her mother whose whereabouts turned uncovered to her eyes most recently."_**

Rei had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes again as Vernal came closer. Abseil always reverted back to D-1 (she referred to their first day together as D-1 whenever he got like this) when he actively unraveled the negativity of others. _Translation_?

**_"She is concerned and worries in regards to meeting the standards of the Maiden. To make her proud. This one knows she has little chance of her desire ever being fully realized and reciprocated, and fears being forthright would deter any further interaction outright."_**

_I see, and I understood that last part about her mother's killers. Seriously, Abseil, try harder._

**_"My apologies."_** A beat. **_"Sorry, I mean."_**

"Just...got a lot on my mind. Raven and I are heading out for a trip later, probably won't be back for a while so I'm just thinking ahead." Vernal shrugged, scratching herself on the arm. "Kinda thinking things are going to get weird without your face around here."

"_Awww_, you WILL miss me!" Rei grinned. Not talking about her mother, it is. Saves me some time. _Do you think that's too cold of me? _

**_"If she wants silence then she will receive silence. I, personally, would not bother either."_**

"Cheeky cunt, come here already for fuck's sake." Vernal sighed as she embraced Rei who was plain gobsmacked at what was happening.

_Why am I getting a hug from Vernal? Bitchy Vernal? Kick-tribesmen-in-the-face-if-they-touch Vernal? Raven wannabe Vernal?_

**_"I believe she will miss you greatly."_**

_NO-OOOOO, YOU DON'T SAY, MUTT!?_

"H-Hey," Rei managed to say as she awkwardly patted Vernal's side. She also tried rubbing the other's back in what she thought was supposed to be comforting. _Am I doing this right? Is this even working?_

**"Brilliantly."**

"None of that now," Rei added, Vernal still clutching her tight, "It's not like I'm going away forever. It'll only be a few years at most, I doubt I'm going to stick around in Vale all that much after graduating."

"I know, but it'll still be sucky without ya." Vernal pulled away with a smirk. "And I swear, if I found out about anyone knowing what went down these last couple of minutes, I'll gut you."

_There we go. _Rei sighed internally, relieved. This was something she was used to. "Reacting so aggressively would only go as far as to confirm the rumours, they wouldn't believe you after."

"Or it just shows how much I'd never do anything like this." Vernal's grin grew. "Try me, you'll be dead either way."

"Is that a challenge? I can use a warm up before I head to the testing facility today in Vale."

**_"She would not prove even the slightest challenge, much less provide your body a proper stretch."_**

_Ouch. Have something against her? _

**_"_****_Not particularly, I am only confident in your ability especially in comparison to this one."_**

His words earned her a grin that she turned to hide from Vernal, finishing up her packing. "Pfft! I wouldn't break a sweat because of you." Her grin becoming wider than Vernal's, Rei packed away the last of the things she rather not leave behind and easily hefted her case over her shoulder.

"Watch out, Vernal, I might just lose it and bury you in the dirt right underneath the tribe's shit deposit."

Vernal blanched and shuddered, thinking about the many, many overindulgent (food-wise) members of the tribe and their... digestive habits. "You wouldn't. The smell alone would kill you if you try burying me nearby. Breathing through your mouth is just as bad as a death sentence."

"As if I can't hold my breath?" Rei arched a brow.

"Not for that long, I don't think so."

"I guess we'll find that out if it ever comes down to it." A shrug and a laugh, despite being so casual in deliver, apparently unnerved Vernal further as Rei walked towards Raven's mostly suppressed aura signature further out from the main encampment. Vernal kept close behind, sneering at some of the tribesmen around as they gave her dirty looks.

Vernal often threw around her authority over the men.

Others gave waves of farewell as they had known she was going to leave for Vale for some time now. Rei simply nodded her acknowledgement to the few that did. _I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, Rei commented to Abseil, but I think I'm going to miss some things here when I go. _

**_"Likewise. More-so the nature around us, for me." _**

They passed the tents where the tribe prepared their meals, Rei remembering the time she was taught how to properly skin animals. She had been so queasy as a kid skinning the deers, rabbits, etcetera the first few times. Along with skinning, she'd learned how to tan leather and make use of furs for outfits. The party of three, Abseil invisible to all but Rei, also passed the gardens (she hated gardening and cultivating the vegetables) and the sparring grounds meant for the rest of the Tribe. Embarrassing memories of her attempting to take down her burly opponents during her childhood came to mind, as well as the newer memories of giving every single member of the Tribe save Raven a beat down when a certain person (cough, cough, _Vernal_) decided to bet Rei couldn't do so. Rei won. That person who shall remain unnamed lost their tent to Rei for that week.

Finally, they passed the treasury where Rei remembered with a wince a point in time someone was caught attempting to steal and smuggle away much of the Tribe's earnings. Let it be said that grimm did not leave behind droppings after a meal. Raven made sure that particular fact was confirmed with everyone when she found the thief. The treasury was also where Abseil became enamoured. Specifically, the ancient record player Raven had found in a vault in a merchant's shop at Argus. Raven had tasked Rei with collecting a small sum of lien in the treasury and while she looked for the lien deposit, she'd found the spectre staring silently at the record playing. She hadn't been able to convince him to leave it be until Rei mentioned their training session later.

Reaching the other side of camp shortly after passing the treasure, before Rei could walk any further, Vernal stopped her. "What is it?"

"Gotta stay behind while you two go." Vernal jerked her head in the direction they'd walked from. "This is where we separate."

"Oh." Rei readjusted her luggage over her other shoulder as Vernal gripped her arm with a smile.

"Keep your eyes peeled. And kick arss."

"I will. You do the same."

The two clasped each other's forearms and shook once, Abseil apparating next to Vernal's ear with that rare, disturbing grin of his skull.

**_"Do mind yourself as Death ponders walking your way."_**

And then he was back within Rei, a smooth chill-inducing rumbling that she recognize as Abseil's sinister chuckling resonating all around. Vernal shivered suddenly, hugging herself while the area became bathed in a waning orange light of afternoon. "Weird," Vernal remarked, "Got the chills."

"Yeah..." Rei mentally prodded Abseil for an explanation though only earning herself a wave of amusement from her pact-mate. "Should probably layer up later, tonight might get colder than expected."

"Will do." Vernal nodded as she turned around with a wave. "See ya!"

"Later." Rei called out quietly and, after a moment perusing the encampment, turned back around and walked the rest of the way to Raven.

Said Maiden stood in wait not too far away, mask donned and regarding Rei with a nod. The Nevermore-faced woman didn't bother saying a word, and neither did Rei. They understood each other for that moment and what was to come.

_Time to go..._ Rei steeled herself as Raven cut open a portal, the two walking in and out the other side within the span of a second.

* * *

"Unbelievable. Even with promises of full payment upfront for my tuition and our generous favours, here I am wasting my time when I could've been preparing for next week!"

She barely kept herself from growling out her words, training an icy glare at the proceedings from her seat in the small arena.

They'd all finished their written exam about an hour or so ago and given some time to mentally recuperate before all who possessed passing scores relocated to the arena. With just under thirty late-enrollees remaining, the first pair of students having just finished their final practical exam--a timed spar under a maximum of ten minutes or until someone's aura level were brought down to the yellow--leaving exactly thirteen pairs of students waiting to be called forth.

Straightening her gradient dress, she patiently listened out for the judges, a couple of whom she recognised as professors from Beacon including the infamous Glynda Goodwitch and the eccentric Peter Port. "Jade Klaus and Primrose Dern! Please procure your weapons and take a side each in the arena, and we shall begin immediately." Goodwitch announced, nobody daring to oppose her authority. "As a final reminder of the rules, and I will not be repeating this again so pay close attention or risk disqualification for attending Beacon Academy, these duels will last no longer than ten minutes unless we deem it necessary to prolong the examination for accuracy. Lethal force is absolutely prohibited, and Dust no higher than Grade No. 5 may be used--anything more powerful is considered lethal and will resort in disqualification if used against your fellow potential classmates. The duel will also end if your aura level falls into the yellow zone, and any further attempts of combat will result in your disqualification even if you possess more aura. Should the instance your opponent's aura is broken all at once from the green zone, we shall determine if your experience suggests you should have allowed you to predict and properly manage your attacks. In the case your opponent simply has below average levels of aura and you shatter it from the green zone, your opponent will be given rest and you will engage in combat once more, but with a handicap on your part to ensure fairness due to involved factors. Remember, even if you lose the duel, your current level of skill may be enough to earn you a place in Beacon Academy, and draws are possible, though it is given that even if a draw occurs, it is possible that you may not perform well enough--it is even possible for neither you nor your opponent qualify for joining our ranks... Do I make myself clear, all of you?"

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch." was the resounding chorus.

"Excellent. Good luck, all of you. Now then, if Miss Klaus and Miss Dern are ready?"

The two students, one seeming to possess a more green colour scheme and the other being of a plainer yellow, nodded. They readied their weapons, the former producing a bolt-action rifle from the looks of it and the other, a tanto and chain.

"Begin!" Goodwitch announced, and the two students clashed.

"I wish they'd just call my name already so I that I may be on my way." Sighing as she maintained her patience, she harrumphed and scanned the remaining students around, sat either individually or in tiny cliques they'd already formed in their time spent in the facility. Her sharp eyes slowing drooping into a lazy scan, she eventually singled out a single student catching her attention.

She immediately decided this one was a ruffian.

Being relaxed was fine, the she supposed, but the other's particular manner just exuded boredom. As if she deigned to participate here, even. Even her attire, while certainly not screaming "tramp" like some of the other students around, it wasn't all that modest either.

At the very top of the bleachers at the absolute far end on the other side of the arena, the subject of her attention was leaning against the polished wall with her legs propped up on a handrail, arms crossed behind her head. "She does not look that much older than me, I can only imagine she wishes to flaunt her body a smidgen. She is attractive, to give due credit..." Shaking her head at her accidental omission, she double checked that she was still indeed alone before narrowing her cold eyes at the subject of her attention once more. "Entire midriff exposed with her trimmed corset underneath a velvet high cropped jacket of crimson silk, black and strung together just above and under the bust and up to her collarbone with the barest exposure of her cleavage and the underside of her bust, all underneath her open leather full-length coat. Matching. Red accents and all." A tsk of equal distaste and appreciation. "Combat shorts of high quality durable material, I can tell, coloured a lighter shade of black. Buckled leather belt, two thin matching elastic support bands across the trouser waist, and one leg covered in a cross-crossed network of leather straps supporting the gunmetal leg armour from the knee to the end of the shin for a degree of protection while preserving mobility, I assume. Steel toed leather combat boots, also black-" _She wears a lot of black._ "-and finally, gauntlets extending from start of the forearm down made of the same material and colour of the leg armour, leading to fingerless gloves with... some sort of metal plating on the backs of the palms and along the fingers before they are cut off at the second knuckle." _Ugh, her attire is torn in some areas, but at least the armour is in excellent, if somewhat worn, condition and it is all stylized very well. This woman knows how to dress, dare I say it, like a huntsman, even if it's somewhat revealing. _This time, she took the time to appreciate the subject's skin of which, while not nearly as pale as her own, more so fair of colour, was devoid of blemishes minus a few scars here and there. _I have one too.._

Shaking her head, she next studied the woman's hair, as obsidian as the military-reserved Void Dust, the locks so long that they reached just above the hamstrings, she reckoned. The woman's face was beautiful, as svelt as the rest of her body, though her expression was stern even as her eyes were closed, partly shrouded by semi-long lashes. Lips drawn in a calm line, the lower one in excellent pout ratio to the less full, upper lip, and they lacked any lipstick. In fact, this woman did not wear any cosmetics at all as far as she could tell.

_All in all, a wild beauty. _she concluded before arching a brow upon seeing the woman's lips move. Sleep talking, perhaps? Ah, she should stop... Pushing the thoughts and observations away, she shook her head to and fro, hair whipping about for a moment. _If Father develops so much as an inkling of my... preference, he would have me hanged. _Sighing, she schooled her expression once more only to nearly jump in her sight when she found the woman to be staring directly at her, amber with flecks of red meeting icy blue. _I've been caught red-handed._ She found it difficult to maintain eye contact with the woman, feeling like her soul threatened to fold inwards on itself if she kept it up for too long. A few more moments passed, and she had to look away, fighting down a blush all the while and attempting to slow her heart rate.

_Damn it all.._

* * *

**_"You have earned yourself an admirer."_**_Yeah, she's a curious one..._

**_"I am certain you can smell the arousal just as well as I can feel it radiating from her-"_**

_Okay, one, I'm not about to tell you to censor yourself because you're as blunt as a rubber ball. Two, I didn't need to know that, there's some distance between her seat and mine, there's no draft for me to-_

**_"You are smelling it as easily as you smell the sweat from the duelists below and the general body odour, including fragrances, from the select few scattered about the area... Why did you attempt to fool me with logic, despite clearly detecting these scents?"_**

_... Maybe I'm not comfortable discussing feminine arousal from random people, even as close as the two of us are? And that it's just _weird _to talk about it like normal?_

**_"Ah, fair enough. The fact that such things are not normally apparent to you yet slips beyond me, every now and then."_**

_Uh, _yeah?

**_"I shall do my best to improve."_**

_You're regressing again._

**_"I will do better." _**Abseil canted his skull at her, the glow of his eyes somehow expressing curiosity. **_"Better?"_**

_Better._

"Enough!"

The two directed their attention to the arena, the two students below panting harshly though the one Rei recalled to be Jade Klaus seemed to be faring just a bit better. On the screen above the arena, Klaus' aura was just barely in the green still, with her opponent's, Dern, having been driven into the yellow. The former smiled a little as she realized she'd maintained her aura levels, even if barely.

"A great spar, the two of you." Goodwitch began warmly, before her expression schooled itself into its usual stern. "Miss Klaus, you would do well to improve your stamina. You did not take many hits, but we've noticed that you tire and wane much faster than your performance ought to be ideally with your above average reserves. You should also work on improving your cycles of reloading. I understand that your rifle is bolt-action, but a great huntsman will overcome such things as they master not only their physical abilities, but their weapons as well, for your weapons should be an extension of yourself. An extra limb, if you will."

"Understood, Professor Goodwitch, thank you." Klaus bowed her head a little.

_From Mistral, maybe. _Rei wondered to her partner. _Bowing is usually custom to their culture._

**_"So it seems."_**

"As for you, Miss Dern, you've performance was greatly commendable."

_That's the start of a "This is good, but..." __sort of thing. _Rei thought without any real sympathy or pity for the girl.

"However," Goodwitch continued with a soft tone, "it is regretful that it is just not enough of what we seek for our students attending Beacon Academy. You do not lack much at all, but you're in great need of refinement which is a rather important factor in considering our future students." Primrose Dern eyed the ground with sorrow, but a reassuring hand from Goodwitch complete with a smile of complete reassurance lifted the girl's hopes by a significant margin. "We can, fortunately, offer to contact Haven Academy to accept you, full-ride scholarship, should you still wish to pursue this path. Would this work for you?"

"Yes!" Dern teared up as she immediately latched onto Goodwitch's hand with both of her own. Rei could've sworn Goodwitch winced at Dean's apparent strength. "Please! I want to become a huntsman, it's always been my dream!"

"Then it shall be done." Goodwitch smiled. "You have plenty of time to procure a bullhead transport to the Academy within the next week or so. You don't need to worry about expenses either, it will be factored in with the scholarship.".

"Thank you _so_ much, Professor! You've just made my entire week!"

**_"Excitable one, is she not?"_**

_Not sure if I can handle that much energy all at once. Also, have you paid attention to how Goodwitch speaks? It's almost a perfect balance between formality and speaking plainly._

**_"... I envy that woman. Such a feat must be drain from her to be able to do so that easily and consistently."_** Rei face-palmed, nearly triggering her claws and impaling her own eyes. Aura would probably heal it anyway. Maybe.

_One of the first emotions he truly begins to feel other than loyalty is jealousy over delivery of speech. Of course, Abseil, only you. _Rei wished she had something to ease her approaching headache over the matter.

"The next pair to duel shall be..." Goodwitch declared a few moments later after Klaus and Dern cleared from the area, both headed for the private showers and a change of clothes. "... Reiya Akatsuki..."

_Here we go. _Rei stood up and began her journey down the bleachers, gracefully skipping a few steps at a time.

**_We shall-... We will win. _**

"... And Weiss Schnee. Please make your way to the center of the arena with your weapons."

One could wonder if the hidden groan within Goodwitch's tone was an indication of the headache likely to develop from the approaching duel.

* * *

Weiss resisted the urge to thumb her scar with her off-hand as she looked upon her opponent, the very same woman she'd _just _been ogling, suddenly feeling very self conscious. Myrtenaster grasped tightly, Weiss took a deep breath as she cycled through the Dust in the rapier in preparation.

"May the best huntsman win, Reiya Akatsuki." she started, faced with the daunting task of maintaining eye contact with the woman once more.

"Just 'Rei' is fine." was all she'd received as a response. Off-put, Weiss merely nodded as Goodwitch analysed the two for a moment

"You two know the rules." the professor stated, eyes narrowed specifically at Reiya for some reason who simply nodded whereas gave her customary "Of course." For a moment, the combat instructor seemed to be taken aback, eyes widened a smidgen as if she was experiencing an internal epiphany. A few awkward moments of silence passed before the huntsman cleared her throat and nodded. "Now, Miss Akatsuki?"

"Yes, Professor?" came the soft yet sharp reply.

"Due to your background information lacking enough past records for a proper judgement, we will be extending your duel to a maximum of half an hour with Miss Schnee to better decide your placement." Whispers immediately broke out amongst the crowd, Weiss expressing her own surprise and giving the combat instructor a questioning gaze. Before their questions could be answered though, Goodwitch gave her palm one good strike from her signature crop, and _instantaneously, _all was quiet once more, full attention given to the professor. "Very good." Goodwitch hummed. "As I was saying, Miss Akatsuki, you lack enough past records for us to properly decide your placement. Normally, a potential student of the Academies must possess at least four years spent at a primary combat school, and of course, graduating. In addition to this, one must have at least ten years of residency somewhere in the kingdoms, and you have only eight registered years."

Weiss took a step back, relaxing her grip on Myrtenaster slightly while Goodwitch gave Rei a moment to respond. "I lost my home when I was eight." Rei shrugged, eliciting more whispers. A glare from Goodwitch, however, silenced them, before the professor favoured Rei a pitying nod. Weiss herself was aghast, but she had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Normally, if this was the average public scenario, she'd offer a small favour from the Schnee Dust Company to earn, well, _favour _from the people. But for some reason, Weiss had a feeling that would only insult the one standing across from her. "I was taken in by a nomad and kept with them since. Trained on my own..." A glint of _something _flashed in Rei's eye as she quirked a small smirk. ".. Then someone of yours extended an offer after taking notice of me. I accepted after the hour or so of convincing me, reviewed the education I'd missed after all these years, and made it this far, as you can see. What do we do from here then? If it makes the processes simpler, I can always go home...?"

You could hear a pin drop in the facility.

* * *

_Headmaster, she'd just...__She'd drawn us extra attention with silent implications we favour her amongst others through our personal invitation, and that she accepted out of curiosity at best. She's deflecting having to say anything to personal here, not to mention, she's testing our commitment.. To see if we're worth her own commitment. A clever woman if I've ever seen one, Glynda, and I see you nearly every day. Continue as planned, if you would please.__...Of course, Headmaster._Weiss blinked as Goodwitch cleared her throat again. "No, that won't be necessary, Miss Akatsuki. In fact, should you pass this final assessment, you will receive a huntsman-in-training license as would everyone else who manage to pass. The license will bridge the gap in your years of residency and allow you the same advantages as everyone else. As I've said earlier, we only need your duel to last somewhat longer than our standard average. If you manage to claim victory via putting Miss Schnee into the yellow, that will be sufficient enough."

"Oh, that's all well and good then." Rei's smirk disappeared into an expression of calm again. Weiss found it oddly similar to her older sister's. "I'm glad this won't cause any serious complications." Turning on her heel towards her side of the arena--which Weiss found just slightly rude--the woman gave Goodwitch one last look. "Do we start now?"

Weiss held back her disgust as some of the crowd gave more than subtle praise upon seeing Rei's appearance now that she was actually facing them. The latter took notice apparently, if the barest twitching of her eye was any indicator. _Pigs, the lot of them. She's not revealing _that _much.. Somewhat. It's just some midriff and legs miles long... and a tiny window to her cleavage... and some... underboob.. __Okay, maybe she would do much better to cover up more... But more power to her if she prefers to dress this way._"Yes," Goodwitch replied finally, "If you would please walk to your side of the arena, then we can begin proper." She then turned to face Weiss. "Miss Schnee, if you would do the same, please."

"Of course, Professor Goodwitch." Gracefully turning on her heel, Weiss walked over to a blue marker indicating where she had to take up position near the corner of the arena, where her opponent had done the same with her red marker on the opposite end. Weiss checked Myrtenaster, a confident smile gracing her features as she took note of the Ice Dust set in her weapon. An element she'd long since mastered.

"I want all of you to spare extra attention towards this duel in particular." Goodwitch declared to the rest of the students. "On one hand, we have the prestigious Weiss Schnee formally trained by the best of the best." More eyes were on Weiss as she decided to give them all a cordial nod of her head, keeping her own eyes focused on her opponent. "And on the other, we have an unknown, if you would forgive the crass descriptor. Self-taught, and with enough skill to be noticed by one of our very own. Learn whatever you can from these two, and see if you can catch any weaknesses or mistakes made by the end of the round... Are both opponents ready?"

"I am ready, Professor Goodwitch." Weiss confirmed.

Rei only nodded and said "Yes."

The moment she did, Weiss began priming her Dust. Myrtenaster glowed a subtle blue sheen just as Weiss began to bolster her aura, noting how calm her opponent appeared to be just standing there with a hand on one hip.

"Begin!'

A glyph formed beneath Weiss' feet, her semblance flaring a beautiful frost white hued with more blue. It shot her forward as she two-handed her rapier in the form of a vicious jab. She'd aimed for Rei's torso, utilizing her speed and pinpoint attack to severely weaken the latter's aura in one go.

Only to miss.

Her opponent had pivoted on one foot to the left, the flying Weiss forced to dry heave as an armoured knee connected with her abdomen. Her momentum broken, Weiss let loose a sharp cry of agony as she then felt a powerful elbow driving itself into her back. Crashing down to the arena, Weiss sought out and held tightly onto the relief of her aura healing her aches, no longer feeling the need to throw up. She absently registered the audible winces and "Oohs..." from the crowd.

She'd made a mental note for a chiropractic appointment later though. But for now...

Calling upon all of her training over the years, Weiss rolled over to the side as her instincts _screamed _at her. Barely avoiding a kick to the temple, Weiss masterfully utilized a glyph to create extra space between the two, Myrtenaster whistling through the air while the heiress erected a large wall of ice between herself and Rei. She then took the opportunity to chamber her Burn Dust into effect, blade glowing red as she sent a focused torrent of fire into the wall of ice.

The effect was instantaneous as several golden glyphs appeared around the icy-hot conflagration. With a single large glypch coloured a pristine white, the resulting cloud of scalding droplets blew forwards in a hurricane towards Rei's position.

_Darn. _Weiss tsked as Rei simply took the brunt of the attack, though she did earn a generous combination of wincing and flinching as boiling water met flesh. _Let's see how she likes this..._

_I can do this. _Focusing another branch of her semblance, Weiss felt a small, but noticeable drain in energy as a large white glyph formed from behind. Risking a glance at the screen above her, her aura levels read a comfortable eighty-nine percent. _I'm still somewhat of a glass cannon, it seems. _She'd only taken a couple of hits and they dropped her aura by quite a bit compared to the average combatant. _Risk and reward, as they say._

The glyph behind her underwent a final transformation as her aura settled onto a fair eighty-five. In the next moment, as her opponent emerged from her last attack largely unscathed, skin flushed at most from the intense heat and humidity but nothing more. Weiss smirked as she felt her glyph activate with a flare of bright light.

"Don't think you've got me at a disadvantage!"

From her glyph came a storm of flying beings, weak and small in form, as anything more would strain the heiress _massively_, but still as fierce as their real counterparts. Weiss's pride swelled upon watching the murder of nevermore summons gathered around Rei who stared in both wonder and shock.

Then, Weiss issued a single, silent command. Myrtenaster twitched.

Immediately, all of her Nevermore summons pelted with nearly infinite numbers of feather flechettes the size of the standard standalone eraser. Rei was hard pressed to defend against any of them, seeing as the arena they occupied was incredibly small as it was, and mostly shielded her face with an armoured arm. **(AN: Fuck's sake. First, "standard standalone", then "armoured arm" almost immediately after. I had to double take those thinking I might have accidentally duplicated words) **Scores of bruising dotted across her for and

Weiss kept up the pressure, deciding not to engage in direct combat since it was more important to keep focus on her summoning glyph in the case she needed to stop her assault in the case Rei's aura broke. It would be disastrous of course if Weiss lost focus for even a second and possibly incur severe injuries, maybe even death, onto her opponent. Not only that, but such a thing would forever mark her in a bad light as one of the faces of the SDC.

The SDC itself wouldn't be able to regain its reputation for some time. Not even with cover ups.

A blow that Weiss felt like her nose had been reduced to dust from sent the heiress flying. Thinking quickly, Weiss halted her momentum via one of her glyphs, spotting Rei pulling back a clenched fist. Behind her, however, was where Weiss was left dumbfounded--Rei's incredible speed notwithstanding.

The nevermore summons were dropping like flies, falling victim to quite literally, evisceration in various ways by an unknown invisible force and apparently, occupied enough that not even one of their numbers were able to split apart from the flock to carry out their original purpose. Weiss slowly shook her head, mouth agape at the rate of which they were being taken out. There went one, another three, and so on, results ranging from their necks somehow being torn apart to being knocked out of the air and into the arena, or occasionally disappearing outright as if the air itself ate the small collections of Weiss' semblance wholewhole.

"HOW?!" Weiss gritted her teeth as she launched herself forward at a full ninety degrees, chambering her lightning Dust and swinging Myrtenaster aggressively towards her opponent.

Her rapier stabbed right into Rei's gloved palm. Summoning whatever strength she could manage from her petite body, Weiss grunted extreme exertions as she dispelled her summoning glyph in exchange for two more glyphs of repulsion directly behind her suspended form. It was more than enough to force Rei back, despite the latter's boots being firmly planted into the arena, and the force actually creating sparks between Myrtenaster and the steel of Rei's half fingerless glove. The lightning coursing through Myrtenaster finally took effect as well in the form of arcs viciously stabbing into several points across Rei's body, earning pain-filled, stuttering gasps and the smell of singed skin.

Rei apparently had enough, however, and raised her free hand. With barely a flex, claws emerged from the backs of her fingers, extending perhaps two inches past their lengths and glinting wickedly like those of the beowolf grimm. Weiss felt five sharp points digging into one of her legs before she felt herself being lifted.

Seeing as her current glyphs were still active, when Rei forced Myrtenaster out of its mistress' grip and simultaneously grasped the leg with both hands, the Schnee exclusive constructs actually performed in the former's favour. And seeing as Weiss' focus wasn't exactly the best at the moment, the heiress addled with severe frustration and shock when Rei actually threw her towards them, she couldn't halt their purposes in time.

As soon as her body made contract with her glyphs, Weiss was suspended for perhaps a half second before being shot towards Rei once more. The two had been up close and personal, so there wasn't any space between them to begin with when Weiss' neck connected with the same hand Rei'd used to block Myrtenaster. The momentary clothesline whiplashed Weiss' spine something fierce and Rei wasn't even done. Weiss felt the strong hand close around her throat in the same motion before she was forcibly driven into the ground yet again.

All Weiss could think to do as a massive headache pervaded her being, was to get Rei the hell away. The woman was a _monster _in close combat, and no amount of martial arts would help you at range. Clutching her head, her other hand thrusting out at Rei' abdomen, a moderately sized glyph of repulsion forced Rei away and almost out of the arena entirely. And while Weiss shakily picked herself off the ground, she found and picked up Myrtenaster whilst risking another glance at the screen above them.

_Sixty__ two percent... And we've barely gotten started a few minutes ago..._

Weiss had to think. And fast. Aura levels weren't considered yellow until it fell to twenty five percent, then red at fifteen. Weiss had only taken a relatively small number of hits, though they were powerful. Not to mention, her focus was shaky in the most recent grapple. The shield aura could project over its vessel could protect against all surface damage in theory, but only if one were to actively focus for it to do so. That being said, Weiss felt the punctures in her legs as well as the bruising all over her back slowly heal with her aura. She might have gotten an concussion as well, though aura could only do so much.

As the aching from her heavily bruised throat began to die away, Weiss internally sighed as her last summoned nevermore was dispelled. She chalked it up to Rei's semblance, which was currently unspecified or known at all, and hoped that despite the duel not going her way, Rei wouldn't use whatever it was against her too much despite it being completely fair to do so.

She _can't _lose.

This was her chance. A chance to prove her father wrong. A whole lifetime of disappointing him constantly, never earning more than a "As you should." as he loomed over profits and estimations. Weiss Schnee, if--no, _when _she succeeded in becoming a huntsman, or at least, a huntsman in training, she would no longer be the figureheard of the SDC. She would no longer be held captive within her father's cold greed. Her father would never be able to look down on her again, nor would he be able to stop her from doing something _she _wanted for once rather than hunching over and calculating sales, or to make powerful business contracts.

Weiss Schnee would be her own person. She had an identity. She wasn't a puppet.

She wanted to be rid of her father.

And that was why she had to win.

Beacon Academy was Weiss' best chance. She wouldn't get another opportunity like it. True, if this duel proved to be a loss, the Schnee could always attempt for enrolling for next year, but Weiss could not _bear _the idea of spending another year with her father constantly manipulating her into a bag of profit.

Inwardly shuddering, Weiss' determination cowed the rest of her emotions. Eyes narrowing as she began formulating a plan, the petite heiress aimed the point of her Myrtenaster at the area of which the formidable Rei staggered against the repulsive glyph as the rapier chambered a vial of green Dust.

"I don't think so!"

Tendrils of earth rose from the arena to bind Rei stock still, soil and stone wrapped around her neck and lambs and rendering the dark-clad fighter vulnerable.

* * *

**_Looks like destiny has brought the two of you together yet again._**

_Oh, come off it, Abseil! _Rei sent him the mental eyeroll as she sidestepped, barely grazing and avoiding the glowing white missile that was Weiss Schnee. Quick thinking and experience lead Rei to immediately drive her knee into her opponent's abdomen, her own svelt and athletic form easily demonstrated against the petite heiress whose body crumpled easily with the counter--only to fold the opposite way when Rei instantly reversed the original motion with a relentless elbow to the girl's spine. _Pretty sure you're getting an annoying taste for sarcasm now that I think about it. _Rei added as Weiss flattened painfully against the arena, paying no heed to the sympathetic reactions of their audience.

**_Whatever gave you the idea?_**

Refraining the urge to snort--_**That would not be very lady-like, Reiya--**Shut up!--_Rei brought up an armoured foot to be nearly perpendicular to the ceiling. Then, without wasting any motion, she brought it down in attempt to knock out her opponent swiftly and decisively. **_They are leering at you._**

_Damn. _Rei tsk'ed as Schnee rolled away from the axe kick, the same odd blue crystalline symbol of sorts from before apparating out of thin air for a moment before the latter was suddenly flying towards the other end of the arena. To top it off, the Schnee created a wall of ice to separate the two. _That's annoying. And what did we _just _talk about earlier?_

**_It is not as if you give them any reason not to. _**Abseil hummed. **_One ought to dress more modestly to avoid such reactions._**

_I like my outfit. It's light, it offers a lot of mobility, and it intimidates. I'm not changing it._

**_Of course not._**

Rei arched a brow upon seeing more of those glowing symbols, this time they were more golden than white, appear on the other side above the wall of ice before, moments later, she could see a steaming red glow growing from the centre of the wall. "Shit!" Rei cursed as the red circle erupted towards her from the ice, steam and hissing filling the air as boiling hot water droplets made contact with her body. Even with her improved instincts, Rei couldn't have moved quickly enough, as she was soaked nearly head to toe with the stinging droplets. _Fucking OW!_

Wiping the exposed areas of her body, Rei still couldn't stop from flinching and hissing through her teeth due to the burning. She wiped at her face first, then her arms, legs, and middle, as the droplets didn't seem to be dropping in temperature.

**_Exercise caution._**

Abseil's warning was enough to return her focus to the duel at hand. Ignoring the angry burning sensations as they quickly disappeared thanks to her large reserves, Rei saw about closing the distance between herself and Weiss as another glowing symbol, snow white in colour and the size of an ursa major, appeared behind the heiress. Rei saw it easily through the steam, eyes as powerful in sight as Abseil's had been, seeing a myriad of colours within the seemingly white crystal. It was like a giant, psychedelic snowflake, Rei would say, that glowed with power from the Schnee herself.

Clearing the fog of steam, Rei was about to line up a shot at the heiress with her hand cannons only for Abseil to urge her attention away from the floating crystal. Trusting him implicitly, she turned her head just as the declaration was made.

"Don't think you've got me at a disadvantage!" came from her opponent. A blinding light from outside of Rei's peripherals flared once before dimming somewhat, though it stabilised enough for Rei to survey the scene.

And there they were. The largest collection of nevermore she'd ever seen in one area, bar a few incursions. She couldn't help but to stare, a bit impressed, upon the heiress' ability. She never knew anyone else, other than herself, could ever fight alongside grimm, semblance or otherwise. Of course, her staring cost Rei her mobility, and so, she was already in the middle of the sea of frosted nevermore as they gathered.

Just then, Abseil apparated before her, in a way she hadn't seen before even with all their time together in the last few months. There he stood, on all fours with a physique more fitting of the traditional quadraped as opposed to the supernatural werewolf. Granted, he still drawrfed most beings with his sheer size of eight feet, around there, in height. Deadly clawed paws refused to gleam even in the light settings within the arena. Fur so black, that light seemed to unable to escape, and armoured in such a way, she would have thought that she was witnessing a walking skeleton of a wolf. Two spikes protruded from where his shoulders were, including more along his spine and ending at a blade above his tail. And of course, his horns, standing high and proud behind his ears with the lone one above his snout having a slight curve.

Rei was taken aback by the glow of his devilishly crimson eyes, having not seen their colour in quite some time, but as her pact mate met eyes with her, she couldn't help but to smirk even as the glowing nevermore of the Schnee's semblance peppered her with flechettes.

_**Rend. **Rend._

Rei was then on the move, gracefully but wild all the while, flechettes either grazing by or barely cutting across the surface of her skin. In the meantime, the nevermore were faring badly against Abseil. They were blind to him as well, it seemed, despite being manifestations of a semblance. They couldn't get any further than a small radius around the spectre as he reduced them to glowing ribbons in groups, claws and fangs flashing with every passing moment.

The nevermore were dropping in number almost as fast as they were spawning from the Schnee's semblance. And as Abseil ate(?) another pair of nevermore, Rei took note of the slight frown and a set of glazed eyes courtesy of her opponent. _She's not focused. Stuck in her thoughts._

**_"She will pay for that."_**

Rei felt her face nearly split, a vicious grin took up most of her expression as her closed fist connected with the heiress' nose. Blood spurted in inconsistent velocities as the petite duelist was thrown off her feet, the odd glowing crystal far behind her flickering due to the attack--no doubt it was because it ran off Schnee's aura, being her semblance, and said aura was likely working in overdrive to heal the surely broken nose.

Another one of those crystals, this one white again, appeared behind Schnee as she righted herself and planted her feet on it. "HOW?!" she yelled, frustrated and sending spit with her words as Rei guessed her opponent's sightline was directed at the discord of activity that was the invisible Abseil. Schnee was then rocketing towards her again, the crystal having turned black, with her rapier glowing a violent yellow.

_This is gonna suck. _Rei inwardly winced as she met the point of the Dust-implemented rapier with her open palm, grasping it tightly but just barely. The blade slipped past her grip somewhat and nearly met with her nose, but Rei held fast. Another pair of black crystals appeared behind her floating opponent and the force was tripled, sending the two across the arena some ways. _Fuck, I don't think I can hold on for much longer! _

**_"_****_Dramatic one."_**

_Fuck off! _Rei strained as she had a sudden, if a bit wild, idea. Hoping her combat experience would speak for her, Rei grasped Myrtenaster with both hands, even as arcs of electricity began to singe her skin while her aura worked to protect her internals from the dangerous voltage. For a moment, she let go with her dominant hand, her form momentarily being forced back another half metre due to the force of her opponent's semblance, and as she reached for the Schnee's suspended leg, her claws extended just in time to dig deeply into the calf.

Rei locked eyes with Schnee for just a moment. And as blue eyes blinked, Rei forced the rapier out of her petite opponent's grip before finally, two-handing the girl's body in a heavy swing towards the floating crystals. Weiss Schnee was tossed against her own semblance, the crystals flaring against the sudden impact for a split second, before the Schnee was propelled upright towards Rei.

Extending her arm meant a debilitating clothesline for Schnee. And as the girl's body was forced horizontal, Rei quickly enclosed the former's throat in a vice grip and drove her opponent into the previously polished arena where it cracked and forced up debris from the force.

The silence was broken again by a pained groan from the heiress, and just as Rei thought she'd put down her opponent out for the count, she was propelled back yet again by the Schnee's semblance. _She's more durable than I took her for! _Rei remarked, grunting as her momentum was halted just before she could lose the duel by ring-out. Taking a subtle glance behind her found Abseil bracing his form against her back, his skull-clad visage neutral even though she received a blanket of warmth from her partner.

**_"Genius retaliation, Reiya, using her own abilities against her." _**Rei regained her balance as naturally as she could without making it seem like there was something helping her do so. If anyone were to look closely, her movement would certainly raise questions as to how she was able to recover against the propulsion. Maybe she'd get lucky and it would be written off as extreme physical prowess. **_"Her strength rests just under three-quarters. A little more, and the duel is yours."_**

_She has a lot of tricks under her sleeve. _Rei hummed as she brushed herself off, wincing at the blackened spots on her body from the electricity and at the same time keeping an eye on the Schnee who was on her knees and using the rapier as support. Her opponent was breathing rather harshly, likely not accustomed to so much physical exertion. Her form supported the line of thought, and her attacks _were _emphasised more on range and dust-casting. _She's used fire, ice, and electric dust so far. And her semblance, I think it controls momentum or gravity to a certain degree. Those two things could be the only explanation._

**_"Perhaps," _**Abseil replied with a low thrum of a thoughtful growl, **_"I doubt it has a hand in gravity, however, I imagine she would have affected your own sphere of gravity from the very start otherwise. That, or she has not mastered such a thing already."_**

_So momentum? _

**_"I agree that is more plausible. Those glyphs,--" _**Ah, that sounded just about right. Glyphs. The floating crystals did seem to resemble specific patterns according to their function. **_"--seem to propel when white, and pull when black. When they are coloured anything else, they must be applying towards whichever dust she is utilising."_**

_I figured that, mostly. _Rei narrowed her eyes as the Schnee's weapon cycled in the green dust vial. _Too much time discussing already, need to act. _As Rei made to engage the Schnee again, Abseil followed from behind. _And the nevermore?_

**_"Exactly as their name implies."_**

_You know, just putting this out there, _Rei remarked as she was about halfway across the arena, Weiss Schnee glaring at her and finally getting on two feet, albeit weakly, _I can definitely see you as a poet._

**_"I have no interest in such th--Underneath you!"_**

_Fuck! _It was too late, and Rei cursed as she found herself immobile. Dirt and arena material twisted all around and across her body, forcing her spread eagle above the ground. She tried to resist and cut away the offending tendrils with her claws, but her strength could not overpower the earth itself. _Abseil, can you help me out of this?_

_**"Naturally, but I will do you one better."**_

Her vision was interrupted by a blur of black for a moment as Abseil passed, homing in on the Schnee who had been on one knee, eyes closed and quietly chanting someone Rei could actually make out with her heightened senses.

"... for you, mother, bless your soul, and may the Brothers shield you from father's latest abuse. This is for you, Winter, my dear sister, may your endeavours in Atlas continue to provide sanctuary away from the horrors at home... I will prevail, I will succeed for both of us, so that we may never have to suffer from father's presence again like mother did... "

An _enormous _glyph apparated next to the heiress, white in colour and rimmed with gold. Rei made to struggle again, her instincts telling her that whatever that glyph was for, it would _not _be fun to deal with in any way, shape, or form. But as Rei moved, she found that the earth entrapping her had been severed at its roots, dying from the base, up.

_Thanks, _Rei sent as she crossed the final stretch of distance between herself and the Schnee, the latter having grasped what resembled a stone-coloured hilt of an ornate sword from within the glyph, _didn't even notice you cut me free._

_**"You ask, Reiya, and I will deliver. Now, for this peculiarity here..."**_

Up ahead, Abseil angled his direction towards the glyph, rather than Weiss. When he got close, his form melted, for lack of better terms, into pure shadow until he coalesced into a spear-like projectile.

_Abseil, wait, we don't know if that's sa-! _Rei tried, only to slap hands over her ears as a ear-shattering _crack! _split the air. A wave of pressure whipped through the arena for an instant before it fell calm, with only the motes of dust falling here and there being evidence of the phenomena. Staggering in her gait for a moment, Rei recovered and retracted her claws, clenching a fist when she came within several metres of the Schnee.

**_I have disrupted the ritual, though it has cost me my form_** **_until your aura has reached optimal levels again. _**Abseil explained from within her head, Rei feeling worry just as a sudden drain from her reserves indicated the hit her aura had taken. And as she swung her fist, she couldn't help but to take in the Schnee's appearance.

She had fallen, expression agape with shock and panic at the unexplainable breaking of her glyph. The hilt Weiss had grasped was now rendered to little more than grains of sediment, her hand bloodied somewhat--it had possibly been cut when the object disintegrated in her hand. All of that, in addition to the tears of resignation forming at the rim of her icy eyes.

While Rei did feel a small sort of sympathy for the heiress, there was nothing more. And there was certainly no stopping her from following through in this moment. Whatever demons Weiss Schnee held in her heart, whatever life was throwing at her, it was all part of the ride. Rei knew this fully well, after all. You don't get through life without blood, sweat, and tears, and to win, you sometimes need to lose. And that was the thing: there was _always _another chance for a go even if you didn't succeed the first few times. So long as you were willing to take it for yourself rather than wait for it to be easier, or get handed to you, life would bend to your will for as much as you put yourself out there.

And here, Rei needed to win. She needed to land a spot in Beacon. Like the Schnee, she had--_was _living a tough life. Rei knew loss, pain, deception, _the entire bag of goodies _that came with living. And she wasn't about to give up any opportunities either. No. Rei was greedy. Selfish. Maybe even apathetic. But she was _driven. _Winning was essential. Beacon was essential. Growing to be as strong as she could be in the world filled with huntsman, grimm, or worse, she wanted to be on top. Rei wanted to ascend.

Even if it meant the fall of others.

A particular flex of her hand sent two high velocity dust rounds right into the heiress' chest. This time, ironically enough in regards to the manner of which Weiss Schnee fought, Rei had opted for a different set of rounds that were readied before her arrival at the facility. With this change, one of her wonders from earlier of the day had been realized.

With the impact, what came first was the purple glow that gave evidence to the usage of dust rounds as was customary. Next, however, came the truly intriguing part. The dust used had been gravity rounds specifically, and they worked _wonders _against the small bodied heiress. Her petite opponent was easily lifted off her feet, head over toes, before being sent _flying _headfirst into the opposite wall of the arena. The impact was not as nasty as Rei would have liked if the gravity dust rounds were ever to be used in lethal scenarios, but the result was satisfactory all the same.

The Schnee made a small crater with her impact, the wall still standing strong despite the petite body wedged into its side. Rei returned to a neutral stance, ready for further possible engagements as the Schnee cried out both in equal parts pain and effort, doing her best to pick herself out of the wall as the rapier clattered onto the floor.

"That is enough." came the call of the combat instructor. A steady clatter of heels approached while a purple glow surrounded the Schnee. Rei watched the professor lift the beaten girl out of the wall with a flick of her crop, before gently lowering the latter to the ground as the purple glow disappeared. "A well-fought battle, the two of you, much more what I would see from newly made huntsman than from student aspirants."

Rei stepped back as Goodwitch helped the heiress to her feet. There was some wobbling, and definitely the creaking of abused bones, but the girl managed to stand even if she had to use her rapier for support. "I've..." Weiss panted harshly, her make up smeared in some areas and smudged with dirt. "I've... lost, haven't I?"

"You aura has dropped to twenty _four _percent, against Miss Akatsuki's eighty eight, having dropped considerably from being spent with your last attempt utilizing your semblance, and the final block of it drained from Miss Akatsuki's last attack." Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "I have noticed your physical progress is not up to par as it should be. Consider endurance training, as well as strength training, to round out your skills, Miss Schnee. Your usage of dust and mastery of your semblance was _excellent_, however, do not think yourself to lacking too much. You need only to work on your physical progress as I've mention, and perhaps find a way to preserve your aura levels more effectively in the case your semblance is dispelled or interrupted again. All in all, a valiant effort and display, Miss Schnee, I would be proud.

"As for you, Miss Akatsuki," With these words, Rei _swore _the woman reserved a more critical expression for her, "Your style is... high risk, high reward, and unorthodox, is the best I can describe it. While your overall combat effectiveness is nearly pristine, you must work on maintaining a clear mind throughout. I have noticed a drop in focus a few times during the duel, you must work on it before it proves fatal on the field." Rei merely nodded, silently making an agreement with Abseil to work on communicating even faster. "Your reaction times are unheard of, I must say, though they do rely on your focus and we've already discussed that. I daresay you put your instincts to work as well, for I've never witnessed an aspiring student to move as fast and as well as you do to adapt, save a few who are already veteren huntsman."

"So she wins, and I've failed. I can't get into Beacon now..." Weiss spoke up, eyes lowered to the ground and her weapon discarded in favour of falling to her knees once more. Rei inwardly sighed at the sight, watching Abseil materialise in his usual spectral form and focusing his white orbs, the red glow gone now for some reason, on the heiress.

**_"Blood on the snow and hidden from sight. She wishes to be truly seen, to have her voice known to all who bother to care, if any. Harsh resentment and the facade of pride eat away at her feet, with long-lived sorrow boiling underneath her heart. This one believes herself to be a failure despite meeting many standards, though the sense of dread and defeat enshrouds her entire being like a second skin above everything else._**

**_"Her father haunts her, a living walking culmination that is her hell, accompanied by the hungry faces of society and decorum. Her mother haunts her from the afterlife, constantly reminding this one that she can just as easily fall down the path of self-deprecation whilst heeding the alluring call of liquor and other spirits. Her sister, however, is an anchor. This one hopes to achieve much of the same things, and more. To be like her older sister, and to earn her own freedom away from her father and the weight that sits on her name."_**

"Not necessarily," Goodwitch interrupted the darkening atmosphere while Abseil returned to Rei, "While you should strive for refinement and bolstering yourself, you haven't exactly failed, Miss Schnee. You have done very well, know that. And with that said, I will offer you a scholarship, just as I did last match."

"What's the point..." Weiss muttered quietly. "Beacon Academy has been my dream. And now, I can't reach it..."

"You must learn to savour the few opportunities presented to you over lamenting the ones closed away, especially if they have a chance to be available at a later time." Goodwitch lightly admonished. The heiress winced at the words, but perked up at the end of the statement. "Had it not been for the fact that we have limited seating, I would have accepted you as well, despite your defeat. So, to meet you halfway, I am offering you assisted entry to become a huntsman in training within Atlas Academy, and to perhaps, with time and effort, a Specialist, if you catch Headmaster Ironwood's attention."

"...I can be with my sister... "

"And more." Goodwitch smiled as Rei inwardly snorted at how _lucky _some of these students can get in terms of attending a tier one academy.

_At this rate, try hard enough and that's all you need. _It was callous of her to see it that way, but this sort of thing hit a rather sensitive spot within her. This situation here was reeking of bullshit in her eyes. She could just imagine the many students previously tested just like this, only to be turned away and be asked to try again the next year, or perhaps rejected entirely despite giving their best efforts that were either equal to or _more _than what the Schnee gave. Goodwitch was displaying a dangerous act of generosity that would no doubt earn some resentment from those who would not make the cut.

It was bullshit, but that was life, wasn't it?

"Miss Akatsuki?"

Acting as if she hadn't just went off on an inner tangent, Rei nodded in attention. "Yes, Professor?"

"You may leave to refresh yourself or whatever you would like to pass the time while the rest of the testing goes underway. Meet with the rest of the passing party here by the end of the next hour, and you will follow instructions from there. Am I understood?"

_Why am I suddenly getting assertiveness here? _Inwardly shrugging, she decided to remain quiet with a nod. This seemed to agitate the professor somewhat, but Goodwitch hid it well.

"Good. Now Miss Schnee..."

Rei tuned them out as she turned around walked towards the exit, ignoring the stares and leering along the way. As soon as she walked through the large doors, Rei let out a sigh while Abseil appeared before her once again as the doors closed. "We made it. It was a little rocky, but we did."

**_"Indeed. One step closer to your goal, albeit a large one."_**

Nodding, Rei continued on a path that led towards a fountain she'd spotted during her arrival. "And now, Beacon..."

**_"After the Initiation."_**

"... I almost forgot about that. Damn, I can't really remember what Raven said about how it goes down."

**_"Whatever it may be," _**Abseil replied as Rei made her way to the fountain and sat on its raised columns, the water splashing quietly behind her. **_"We will prevail and conquer, just as we did not a few minutes ago. And through it all, Reiya, I will be by your side to lighten the burden."_**

Chuckling, Rei raised a hand to rest it against Abseil's floating skull right on the snout. The glow of his eyes disappeared for a moment, almost as if he'd closed them. "I know you do. Nothing will stand in our way. Be it grimm, Maidens, manipulative headmasters, whatever. We've got each other... Thanks, Abseil."

**_"No need."_**

Rei rolled her eyes. "Together." she announced with a small smile, closing her eyes to enjoy her temporary respite. She was going to Beacon, and like Abseil had said, she was one step closer to winning it all. The cards had been dealt, and now, they were in action.

It was high time they earned a royal flush.

"Together..." she repeated with a yawn, humming as the slight breeze chilled her post-combat warm body.

**_"Forever and always."_**

* * *

**AN: My apologies for the lateness of this chapter, but I was recently let out from having a ruptured appendix and got this out as soon as I could manage to the best of my ability. I dearly hope you lot have enjoyed the story so far.****In other news, I _am _going to make a Discord server for this story rather soon. Also, someone also messaged and asked for a hint or reveal on a pairing? For that, I have no planned pairings as of yet, but I can certainly leave it up to you lot. I would say I can make a poll for that, but I have not decided how to format such a thing yet. Maybe it will be on the discord server, maybe I will just keep it simple and accept suggestions via whatever arrives in the story inbox or my personal inbox.****Lastly, Weiss Schnee. Now, for those of you who may have an issue with how she was brought out and, well, directed _away _from Beacon, I will only say one thing: She will return at some point. And I will be honest as well, I have not invested nearly as much time knowing her character like I have with the others watching RWBY. So please bear with me, and I apologise if any of you are disappointed with the canon change.****Anyway, until the next time! Thank you for reading the story this far, and I hope you all have had a lovely weekend. **


	5. Chapter Five

**_Hello there! I'm not dead, and I'm certainly not planning to drop the story. Just a lot of things have been going down lately and I have been getting back to back opening and closing shifts so I've been dead tired the entire last several weeks. Please forgive me, all of you who still read my story, for my absence. I would have posted a quick update to let you lot in on the situation, but I felt that it would annoy more people than satisfy the wonder seeing as you all expect a chapter, not someone vomiting about the issues they are dealing with, heh. And thank you for all of you who have started to follow this story since the the last update, and for those of you who sent those sweet and encouraging messages in my pms. It really helped drive me towards making this chapter, as short as it is, and I already have the next one up and running to make up for the shortness of this one which is more of a... I think filler is the proper term? Maybe. Who knows, I am an amateur. Anyway! Short chapter than usual but hopefully some more introspection will make up for it. Please let me know how you feel about it, I don't bite!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or anything pertaining to the franchise. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum. _**

* * *

**_Rouse yourself, Reiya, the Schnee approaches._**His voice was akin to the natural ambience of morning, not so much interrupting her short rest as it was a gentle prod. Cracking open an eye, Rei brushed her hair away from her eyes as she stretched and sat up. That was a good nap... Soft trickling water from the fountain she sat upon and the occasional call of a bird met her ears, reminding her of where she was and, most importantly, she was getting a seat within Beacon Academy.

Finally registering Abseil's words, Rei smoothed out her outfit and waited as Weiss Schnee came near, the latter stopping short of the fountain to admire its architecture before her eyes landed on Rei proper.

"I came to apologize." the heiress started with a sigh, bringing up a hand to thumb a scar on her face that which, Rei hadn't really cared to notice much. Looking at it now though, the scar was rather stark against Schnee's pale skin. It cut from above her left eye and down, ending just under the cheekbone.

_Wonder where she got that from._

**_The scar is thin and near perfect in terms of symmetry. I would say it is from a blade._**

"You fought very skillfully, and practically won with one arm behind your back. And for me to... unload, the way I did, was not right, even if the way I reacted wasn't necessarily towards you." The heiress bowed her head. "Thank you for giving me a lot to learn about everything I need to improve on. I need much more training, as it seems."

Rei felt like pinching the bridge of her nose. She really didn't care for this formal apology and word of thanks. _Initiation needed to arrive soon, fuck's sake,_ in her opinion. "Look, don't worry about it. It was just a match and it's not my business to have a foot in with whatever you're dealing with." She continued as the Schnee tried to get another word in. "And you're getting into Atlas. Think the professor mentioned a sister there?" A slow nod. "Well there you go. Don't worry about losing so much. Your sister likely has a lot of experience-" She didn't fail to notice how the Schnee seemed to preen proudly at the words, "-and you'll be able to pick things up from her, and get some experience yourself. Atlas, from what I've heard, is a prestigious academy too. Militaristic and all that. Set your eyes on it."

"I am," Weiss confirmed, "As for my sister, yes, she's a Speciali-"

"Glad we were able to work out there were no hard feelings then." Rei cut in as she turned and walked past the Schnee, leaving the latter blinking and poleaxed. "Good luck with Atlas, I guess."

And as Rei made her exit, Abseil chuckling as he followed above her head, the Schnee simply stood there. Completely taken aback. A few more moments of catching flies in her mouth came and went before she finally brought herself back to her wits, almost giving herself whiplash with how fast she turned her neck in time to see Rei turn the corner.

"What-Wait!"

_Damn it, didn't lose her._ Rei groused.

**_Perhaps scare her away with a kiss?_**

_I will neuter you._

"Please, Miss Akatsuki, before you go." Rei looked back to see the heiress handing her a business card, sapphire in colour with "SDC" engraved in what looked like dormant ice Dust along with an image similar to Weiss' glyphs. "While I cannot guarantee you any favours or provide free stock, I can certainly get you discounts the next time you decide to look into Dust and our other products."

"Thank you?" Rei picked the business card from Weiss' waiting hand and slipped it into her back pocket, ignoring the cackling of her partner and giving her absolute greatest effort in pretending she did not notice the heiress' eyes tracking the business card or more specifically, her rear. Facing forward and walking again, Rei waved a farewell without looking back. "See you the next time then, and thanks for the offer."

"Until we meet again, Miss Akatsuki." Rei imagined the pompous girl bowing again and after making her way back towards the facility, she made sure she was alone before tossing the card into the bin outside the arena.

"Talk about persistent." Rei muttered quietly. "Wouldn't leave me alone even after I blew her off."

**_"What can you expect from one as lonely as she? Not to mention, her infatuation."_** Abseil apparated next to her again, this time inspecting some of the notices and propaganda on the walls.

"Yeah, let's not." Sighing, Rei decided to keep quiet on the outside for now. _And her? Lonely? Seems like she'd have a lot of contacts._

**_"I felt incredible loneliness radiating from her very core. And it is highly unlikely she is anything but. With the near apathetic exterior, guarded formality, and her personality, I doubt she knows many outside of business partners and politicians."_**

_Must be great not having annoying friends._

**_"I agree. For one, I can barely stand listening to Vernal and her grandstanding with the tribesmen."_**

_You know I was implying you?_

**_"... Fortunately, we are not mere friends, bound partner of mine."_**

_Smooth_.

* * *

By the time she returned to the arena, the rest of the matches had already been wrapped up and those who performed well enough for late entry were all clustered before Goodwitch, while the rest were packing their things to leave for home. Rei spotted Weiss at the very front of the group, attentive and ready to receive instruction. Catching Rei in her peripherals, the Schnee blinked before gaving a tiny side wave, a dusting of scarlet across her cheeks.

Rei sighed on the inside.

"-and those of you who were presented with the offer to attend a different academy shall meet with me before going home. I do not think I have to emphasise how important it is to do so. I will only say this once: See me after this meeting or you will not be seeing papers for an academy at all."

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch." the students said as one at the arch of her eyebrow. Rei kept quiet for the most part, crossing her arms under her bust and leaning most of her weight on one foot.

"As for the rest of you, I hope you have properly prepared for the Academy. As the passing late entries, we will actually be taking bullheads to the campus today, and the rest of your future teammates will arrive this weekend. You will not receive dorms yet, that comes after Initiation, so you will be sleeping in the amphitheatre just like the rest. Now, for conduct on campus... "

Rei tuned out the rest of her words and opted to instead give her future classmates a quick once over.

Before, she didn't bother too much with paying attention to them. A few caught her eye, but usually that was if Abseil found them interesting and relayed the information to her--particularly their greatest weight in negativity. Now though, Rei wanted to commit their faces to memory. They had performed well enough to be accepted into Beacon, after all, and Rei wasn't one to easily trust others, much less considering them allies. She wanted to prepare for the amazing possibility of backstabbing.

_Schnee. Leaving to Atlas, not a threat._ Rei thought in near autopilot as her eyes snapped from face to face. _Sapphire, barely won her match, but they were both kind of meh in combat. Not a threat. Jade..._

This kept on until the sound of flesh cracking against flesh met her ears, startling her. Goodwitch had clapped her hands, still addressing the group. "Now that we've gone over everything necessary, everyone please prepare your belongings and whatnot for the Academy and meet me at the station just around the corner from here. Our flight to Beacon will depart soon, so make haste if you would like to reach campus before tomorrow morning. Go on, now."

Rei and most of the group split off to do just that, a few staying behind (including Weiss) with Goodwitch to discuss their academy transfers. Rei went out the same hallway she came in the first time around, looking for the line of lockers she had stored her things in earlier. All the while, Rei steadily grew a frown as she chewed on a lip. Her eyes nearly clouded over, had it not been from her constant companion.

**_You are going the wrong direction, reverse yourself and do not make any turns._**

_I'm a little out of it, right now, sorry_. Rei absently tried to rub her forearm only to fail as soon as her fingers made contact with the gauntlet. Thinking about Beacon again. Rei, without even meaning to, immediately glared suspiciously at a passing student she knew was headed for Beacon as well. It took a second or two to kick in before Rei even realized what she did. Relaxing herself and rubbing the evening fatigue out from her eyes, Rei turned around and walked towards the opposite hallway.

**_Only now, the fact that you will be in close quarters with other students for the next four years of your life has just settled in, not to mention, the fact that you will have three teammates sharing a dorm with you in all that time as well?_**

Rei glared at Abseil who was sat near the end of the hallway in front of her lockers in a more average size than before during the match with Weiss. His size more so resembled a larger dog now, rather than an enormous beast. Even still, the skeletal parts of his appearance gave his image anything but being a cute, innocent dog. Not that anyone else would be able to see him.

_Yes. Not to mention, I'm going to have to rely on them to cover my arse out on the field. I don't even trust Raven to do that, she'd leave me to deal with it myself. And I would. I don't need teammates._ Rei reached the lockers and specifically sought out the ones that were, for whatever stupid reason, caved in by previous owners. Grasping the doors with a hand each, Rei tugged as hard as she could and both doors were forcefully swung open and revealing her personal belongings, untouched. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder and extending the handle for her suitcase, Rei casually kicked both doors closed as she passed and made for the exit._ I have you, teammates are unnecessary._

Abseil remained quiet, oddly enough, just following her out of the building and staying close to her side. Looking at him in her peripherals, Rei tried to discern what was going on in his head, while at the same time, doing her best not to leak her emotions and intentions through their bond. But whether or not Abseil could tell what she was doing (he likely could), he was not showing any sort of reaction, even when she suppressed herself in their bond which would normally be cause for concern.

_He knows what I'm trying to do_, Rei mentally sighed.

Rei eventually pushed open the large set of double doors that was the exit to the facility, her eyes being drawn to the fountain once more as the falling evening sun shimmered across its waters. _You know,_ Rei chimed as she allowed their connection to flow freely again, _I honestly think I'll adjust soon enough. It doesn't seem any different from rooming up with the tribesmen and learning to trust them._

**_"Mind you, it took several years for you to trust them, and I am certain your future teammates will not have a leader who they will be deathly afraid to even joke with."_**

_True, those bandits are always scared shitless of her._ Rei hummed, the two following the cement path through the field of trees and other foliage. On the other side should be the main road, and from there, she'd have to head east in order to get to the bullhead station.station. _I wish we can explore this place a bit more before we head for Vale._

**_"This island does not have much to offer, you are not going to be missing much."_** Abseil reassured. **_"Patch has always just been nothing but quiet, even with the communities here. Take that into account along with the plain nature here, Anima offers much more pleasures to enjoy."_**

_Hold on,_ Rei eyed her companion with an arch of her brow, _you've been here before?_

**_"... Yes." _**The alpha beowolf spectre paused for a moment, ears canting this way and that before be kneaded the ground with his paws. Following that, Abseil gave a huff before catching up to her side.**_ "Of course, under Her command, she would dispatch legions across all of Remnant to do her bidding, myself included. There was a time where we were stationed west of here, in Patch, but there was something further north that eliminated our ranks by the droves. It was not long before she had my entire pack withdraw, but not without leaving behind a few scouts. We reckoned it was simply an incredibly skilled huntsman."_**

_Fair enough. That was Signal's arena we were just in. It's a primary school, there'd be at least several veteran huntsman here._

The sinister chuckle again. **_"I imagine they were all on holiday when our ranks were cut down. To have so many of us, dozens upon dozens, eliminated in such a short amount of time, it would make more sense if it was due to an entire team. And, as I am ashamed to admit, the beowolves of Her forces are often the smallest threat compared to the rest. Really, we are only much of a threat if we live long enough to be alphas, and even more so if we travel in a pack."_**

_Interesting... So how much of your time do you remember before becoming my partner?_ Rei asked carefully. She'd always wondered before but never really gathered the courage to ask. She had feared that if it was ever brought up, it would come down to the fact that she had killed Abseil in order for her semblance to kick in and take his loyalty. And while they had quickly skimmed over those details just fine within the first few days of working together, Abseil never really gave his opinion on the matter. The only reason why she was asking now was due to her own insatiable curiosity along with his current willingness to provide details about his past occupation as a Grimm under Salem. He rarely volunteered such information, often finding a way to speak around in while still satisfying her queries.

**_"I am not going to resent you for what you did, nor have I ever fostered any sort of ill will towards you afterward."_**

_Holy shit, that was a lot heavier on my mind than I thought._ Rei thought to herself as she sighed in relief. She heard Abseil snort in amusement.

**_"In fact, this new life of mine has never seen better days before. Gone, is the need to constantly seek out negativity and gorge myself on them. My mind is free of such narrow movements of thought. No longer do I have to be wary of huntsmen and the like as I walk this earth. I can freely do as I wish, so long as I do not stray too far from you as that would strain my being."_** Being too far away was harmful to him? That was new, Rei had never known that little tidbit. Then again, she never really questioned it whenever Abseil went off on his own seeing as he'd always let her know beforehand and come back before long. **_"Her whispers no longer fill my mind which is lovely, it always felt akin to thin cold fingers scraping away at the corners of your mind, never letting go even as you fulfill your purpose."_**

_Did you even like working under her-?_

_*BANG!*_

"SON OF A-!" Rei groaned as she held her nose, blinking the tears away from her eyes as she carefully maneuvered around the lightpost she had just walked into. She had been too focused on Abseil as they walked, it seemed.

"**_Smooth, oh dear partner mine."_**

_As smooth as sandpaper_. Rei quipped with a glare as she tried to ignore the looks from the surrounding passerby of Patch, opting to just keep walking and nursing her nose with a hand. She fished out one of her emergency sheets of gauze and tore it into a fitting size, rolling it up and stuffing the bleeding nostril while her aura worked to heal it. _As I was saying_, Rei huffed as she snorted and spat a glob of blood onto the grass, _did you even like working under Her command?_

**_"None of us do."_**

_...Really?_

**_"Remember, Reiya, we were originally spawned from the Brothers' powers to punish Humanity and wipe them off the face of Remnant. And when we did, we were free to roam these lands as we wished... But the will of Humanity was, is, strong, and they returned better armed in wits and unity. While we were originally spawned to rid Remnant of Humanity, the task had already been carried out before they returned. We simply wished to live out our existences, even as we were made with the intentions of purging Humanity's extreme negativity from these beautiful lands. All was fine for the most part. We were actually rather rare to find near human populations and only retaliated if struck first. But, as Salem grew in power, she learned to manipulate the magic that formed our beings. She twisted our original nature, forcing us to actively seek out and purge any negativity we can sense as we walked through Remnant._****_"Now, the purpose of the Grimm is absolute. To rid negativity in its entirety. Before, it was with a truer purpose, one that the Brothers put forth with creating a peaceful world and that perhaps, the next wave of beings would actually appreciate their lives and what they are given without resorting to negativity in one form or another. But with Salem... All is bleak, Reiya, and the Brothers lost their concern for Remnant when Humanity warred against one another the second time. Now, the Brothers simply watch for entertainment, for that is all they can do seeing as those of this world will continue to fight another again and again, with Salem only being a catalyst in her attempts of vengeance against Ozma and the Brothers."_**

Rei frowned, pursing her lips as the well oiled gears within starting turning in her head... Was it possible?.. Could they maybe turn this world war around to their favour...? Rei grew eager with excitement but had to restrain herself, knowing fully well that some things were often not as easy as they appeared to be.

_Is there a chance...?_

**_"For the Grimm to turn against Salem? Absolutely not."_**

_Well, there goes that plan_. Rei sighed.

**_"Perhaps before, when Salem first began her machinations, there would be enough of a force to retaliate against her influence. But as it is now, the entire population of Grimm is under her command as we speak. Even the newborns are, having spawned from her power. Your greatest chance would be the Ancients, and even they fall easily under her power. The only Grimm I can imagine being neutral, not that they would side with Humanity mind you, would be the Goliath. They are never aggressive, each one centuries upon centuries of age and having more intelligence and wisdom than the oldest of Humanity. Salem's influences cannot reach them, but they are certainly still trying. All that would be necessary is just an unprovoked action of aggression towards the Goliath, and that would be enough to render their docile nature nonexistent with Salem's influence filling the void left behind."_**

_Never seen a Goliath in person before. Seen pictures though._

**_"Perhaps, we will see one during our time in Beacon."_**

"Guess we're early." Rei mumbled aloud as they arrived at the bullhead station. "We probably have to take three from the looks of it, these ones aren't the standard models."

**_"The colour coding differs from the usual as well. I imagine those are specific for huntsmen usage within Beacon's roster."_**

"Makes sense. The standard passenger bullheads are a lot bigger."

The two approached the bullhead station as more passerby milled about, getting their tickets and standing in line for their flights while others purchases tickets for sea-travel. Rei wondered if travel by ship was even practical considering the speed of the bullheads. Then again, bullheads do not take as many passengers neither did they carry as much in terms of cargo. Speaking of which, she spied a ship with a course to Beacon on the departures screen near the entrance of the station. She could only imagine it was carrying supplies judging from its size in the image. Clicking on the ship's name, the Sojourner, on the informative screen brought up a more detailed image of the ship. And sure enough, crates upon crates littered the deck of the ship and she could tell it was carrying even more through the portholes near the back.

_I guess you would need a lot of supplies to sustain a fuckton of students._ Rei mentally shrugged as they walked further into the station, passing the transparent blue sliding doors and exposing themselves to the energetic atmosphere that was the inside of the bullhead station. Many civilians either ran about, or had adopted a very fast-paced powerwalk to get wherever they needed to go. Automated vendors and small shops were set up all around, consistently drawing more than a few people at a time. The smell of food, both of the fast variety and an assortment of cultured cuisines, wafted in the air. Rei could already hear the sounds of the public bathrooms despite them being incredibly muted by the cacophony.

**_Take care not to overwhelm yourself with your senses. Heightened as they are, and as much as you have gotten used to them, you are still rather sensitive. _**

_I know, I know, Abseil_. Rei gathered a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before exhaling and starting off her advance towards the directory with a tug of her luggage. _I guess I'm still not entirely used to this many people in one area yet_.

**_You have nothing to fear from this crowd. Abseil reassured as they walked, They are in the mundane routine of travel. I will not let any harm reach you, if anything. _**

_You're regressing again._ Rei chuckled. _I think outside of combat situations, I'm going to give up on you speaking normally. _

Abseil had no reply for that, merely giving her that canine snort while they came upon the directory for all the scheduled flights and sea-vessel travel. "Looks like Goodwitch was right on the money with her scheduling. We have just about an hour before boarding. That's enough leeway in case they take too long." People milled all around, no one would really pay attention to her or her words as she spoke with her partner.

**_The woman does present a very organized and professional demeanor that implies a lack of self-luxury. I am not surprised she properly planned ahead a few steps more than necessary._**

"Let's just find an empty seat for now at the terminal, it's on the other end of the station." Having no sense of rush, Rei took her time finding and stepping onto the moving walkway that would lead her to the area of her terminal. She didn't bother walking, simply leaning against a rail and sliding her luggage behind her feet as other travelers quickly walked passed. She then became quickly annoyed of the sound of the her backpack rubbing against the rail and decided to stow it on top of her suitcase while they waited to reach the other side.

**_This is awfully convenient, I must admit._** Looking at Abseil found him to be sitting right in front of her, inspecting their moving walkway with a cant of his head. **_However, walking on your own would be much faster than using this._**_Walking on here would be even faster though, and it's more for that reason and the fact that some people get tired of walking around that this is here for. Less accidental collisions too. _Rei supplied.

**_Fair enough. I only wonder how much of a change innovations such as this would have made in daily life before I became Grimm..._**... What?

_Hold on, you had a past life?! How come you've never told me befo-Wait, no, I thought grimm were _created _not born from people!_Rei's shock suppressed itself as she met eyes with Abseil. She almost took a step back, had it not been from the railing behind her. A pang settled in her chest, of all things, as she looked into Abseil's eyes.

_Sadness._She could just tell, as per usual as the two were intimately connected due to their bond. Abseil was only beginning to express his emotions, but only just, and even so, they were fleeting. He always kept the focus on her and their goal, never once dwelling on whatever he felt because the two would understand each other anyway.

But this time around... Such sadness, it almost drove her to her knees. She'd never experienced this from him, neither was it so painfully open for her to see. Those eyes of his were dimmed considerably, their white colour more of a faded amber, almost like her own eyes, but much less vibrant. That was new too, she'd never known his eyes would be anything other than white or red. But the colour wasn't truly her focus right now.

It was his entire presentation. In addition to his expression, there was the slight downtown of his usually erect ears, the deathly stillness of his tail and breathing, the way his posture was slumped as if someone had just shamed him something fierce...

Abseil always stood tall, watching over her and being the vanguard. What she saw now was an entirely different being practically.

But just as sudden as it came, Rei blinked and it was gone. Abseil's expression was blank as usual, eyes back to normal, his ears erect, and his posture straight. His tail swished to and fro ever so often. **_They are not, no.. I am just as confounded as you are. Some nights, when I keep vigil, I see visions. Fractured. Dulled. They are familiar, but foreign at the same time. I suspect, against all reason, they may be memories of the past. Memories of my own. Grimm are never born from Humanity, I assure you, although I have just as much of an inkling as you have--that is to say, very little._**_Oh... Can you maybe tell me about them? If that's okay with you, I mean?_She watched him carefully in the case he expressed any sort of tells again. She didn't like what had just transpired before her eyes. She _swore _she had seen it, the way Abseil's entire being just radiated sadness. And as it was right now, she felt like he was hiding from her, and that hurt. She'd understand if he would rather not talk about it, but he had literally masked his demeanor entirely without missing a beat. It was almost like she was being lied to, or that she was just talking to someone with a mask on.

She didn't like that at all. The pang in her heart only grew.

**_Of course, whenever we have the time. Mind you, they are very few and far in between, and I cannot comprehend them myself. I can only discern for certain that they are visions of the past from the technology they possess._**_Like what?_**_A lack of the modern weapons that Remnant has in this age, for example. The visions show that the world was as "sticks and stones" as it could be. There are no vehicles either, only carriages and ships. Another peculiarity that has caught my eye is the fact that they used more ancient Dust methods in their daily life--runes and what have you in their clothing, pure crystals for torches...You do not see much of that around save for the most basic of functions today._**_Visions of the past... Possibly _your _past... _Rei mentally muttered to him.

**_Do not dwell too much on it, partner mine, they hold no sustenance to our current journey as far as I know. I find myself focusing more on the visions of music, interestingly enough, I have never felt such concern over melodies and the like before these images._**Something clicked in Rei's head. _Is that why you're always staring at that old record player in the treasury back at camp?_The spectre seemed to take a moment to contemplate before nodding once, standing on all fours once more and taking up most of her general leg space on the moving walkway. A wathe of warmth flowed over her body as his spectral body overlapped her own. **_Indeed. As those visions are from a particular point of view--that of a person, yes. And they frequently listened to music for catharsis. _**His scarred ear twitched. **_That record player produced music very similar in style and melody to the music of these visions. I have been finding myself enthralled in particular instruments outside of my conscious. Aside from these things, I have learned little else from these visions._**But he did know a little more, what with the way he worded that last statement. Something he wasn't willing to speak to her about at the moment. The way his tone dropped suggested he was done with the subject for now, Rei nodding with great reluctance but ultimately trusting Abseil for who he was to her. The pang in her heart remained though, pulsing painfully with every beat.

He had been experiencing these visions for _months _if his words were anything to go by. And not once, did he speak up. And Rei dreaded to think--had he been feeling that sadness the entire time? Could he not have opened up to her? Was she even approachable in that regard? Rei frowned as they heard a bullhead take off for its destination, getting some comfort back from the warmth of his presence, but resigning to close her mind off just a little to think. She didn't want to tip him off aga-

She felt something gently wrap around one of her legs. Looking down, she saw that it was Abseil's tail, now tangible and providing even more warmth. Looking up at her partner curiously, she watched him absently eyeing the end of their moving walkway. Looking down again, she almost winced at the sudden force of the grip from his tail.

**_I am at a loss, Reiya... I will need your guidance just as I will always provide for you._** Rei didn't say anything as the burden in her heart disappeared some. Instead, she let her hand wander, discreet as can be, and rested it on the ruff of his neck.

_I'm here._

**_Thank you. _**

* * *


	6. Chapter Six

**_AN: My deepest apologies for the incredibly delayed update. I suppose I had my first bad encounter with writer's block/waning motivation. Not to mention having to prioritise managing my time for work and whatnot whilst also fighting against severe insomnia. But! I managed to get this out and hopefully, this semi long update will tide you lot over and be enough as an apology. Also, thanks to the handful of you who reviewed and/or favourite/followed!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. _**

Glynda Goodwitch was not at all surprised to see the missing late enrollee waiting for her arrival at the end of the bullhead station. The combat professor had been silently searching for this particular one on the way out from Patch's public arena and facility while the rest of the students were still packing. As it was, the only ones present at the terminal gate were the two of them. Checking her scroll as the distance between the two closed, she noted that boarding would not be for another forty minutes or so. They were early, and the rest of the party were still back at the facility.

As she entered Akatsuki's general proximity, the late enrollee merely ignored her presence. The professor could _tell _that the younger woman had detected her, even as the latter lay there on her seat relaxed and legs propped up on her suitcase. Her eyes were closed, with her arms crossed behind her head. The entire pose was similar to how the young woman sat back at the arena, seemingly without a care in the world.

_Her attire... Some modesty would not hurt this one. _Glynda noted with a mental tsk. While midriff exposure was more or less normalcy in terms of casual wear, there was a lot more upper and lower midriff on display than the average. Not to mention the slight exposure to the underside of the young woman's breasts, including the tiniest windows to the cleavage, and the amount of leg shown underneath the armour...

_I imagine she would reason agility and flexibility to be priority over protection... But there are less revealing ways to achieve this effect. _Glynda mentally tsk'ed again, remembering how Akatsuki's potential peers ogled and whatnot during the match. Did this enrollee not care? Surely, she had noticed the attention by now?

Wearily shaking her head clear of the subject, the professor redirected her gaze to Akatsuki's face only to blink at the pair of fierce amber eyes meeting her own.

"There _are _open seats, Professor." Rei Akatsuki remarked, gesturing to the multitude of said seats around her formatted in a 6x6 block. "No use in standing around when we have quite a bit of time."

"I'm afraid I will remain as I am for now, Miss Akatsuki." Glynda nodded an acknowledgement. "The station is buzzing with the populace, they would be hard pressed seeing me if I was to sit."

Rei shrugged. "I suppose so. I'd see it as extra practice for them to use their eyes in a crowded environment in the case they'll have to do just that in an emergency situation. But I guess that's doing too much, we can end up late too if they can't find you."

Glynda arched a brow at the words but let it pass. On the one hand, it could be an innocent suggestion. On the other, it could be some form of passive aggression or even sarcasm. The neutral tone and lack of tells on Akatsuki's expression didn't help point to either, so the professor figured it would be best to leave it be.

"Are you fully prepared, Miss Akatsuki? For Initiation, that is?"

The subject of her focus shrugged again. "I will deal with whatever comes my way. I honestly just wish it can start already. All this waiting around and protocol is getting me antsy."

Not cocky, but confident. Akatsuki was certain she would be accepted into Beacon's ranks without issue. Glynda still found it odd, however, got such a young woman to be so gifted in the art of combat without any sort of professional training recorded. _Recorded _being the key term.

Being self taught was certainly possible with experience, but if not with experience, then more likely _unsavoury_ routes to consider.

Akatsuki obviously had no desire to fall in line with society--at least, not with what was expected of her. Not so much in way of her future huntsman career, but more in the sense that she would not bend to authority. Not without insistence, at least. Glynda could just _tell _by the way Akatsuki presented herself earlier in the day in front of all of the late enrollees. To imply that Beacon's selection process was susceptible to favouritism? To personally single out the Headmaster so brazenly--admittedly, Akatsuki's manner was sly. The critical matter, however, was _why? _Glynda had been cordial, professional, maybe even more than assuring in comparison to her usual interaction with Beacon's current students. She had simply stated that the match between Akatsuki and Schnee would be looked upon more deeply than the rest in order to properly evaluate the former's skill. The only reason why the other matches did not require such an extension was due to the fact that the students had a _history _and were pre-qualified whereas Akatsuki had no evidence of either.

The manner in which Reiya Akatsuki reacted was somewhat extreme, as casually as it had been delivered. And the implication she had been armed with... There was no reason to even suggest such a thing. Beacon Academy was prestigious, and _known _to be among the most difficult academies to qualify for even to the most talented of students. Why, Glynda remembered how much scrutiny Mistral's famed champion went through when it came to the application process. For a student who was nicknamed "The Invincible Girl," defeating every single one of her opponents without breaking a sweat along the way, it was still plenty difficult for her to be selected.

Ozpin always considered the greatest potentials, and it wouldn't be uncommon for him to look the other way and process the applications after "accidentally" giving them seals of approval. Ultimately, however, if they did not meet the standard--_his _lowest of his high standards--then they would be denied and considered, perhaps, the next year. However, most of those students would pay their way in anyway, either without issue or later shedding tears of how much money they would have to make up for due to a lack of a scholarship. A few notable students who earned their scholarships, Glynda mentally noted, included Pyrrha Nikos, the excitable Ruby Rose and her sister, Yang Xiao Long, and a Jaune Arc.

Some would argue it would be easier gaining entrance by being a late enrollee. It truly was not the case. Whereas those with scholarships merely have to demonstrate their skill within passing Initiation, the late enrollees were subjected to the raised fees for their pre-entry exams, another fee for the duels, then another for the bullhead ride. The one silver lining was the fact that these fees are substantially smaller than the total of tuition and then some. For a moderate percentage of applications to Beacon, it was certainly the choice for those who did not fare so well in finances, but in what they can offer towards the protection of Vale, as well as Remnant as a whole.

A curious matter that Glynda had perused several times throughout the applications was the case of Weiss Schnee of the SDC. One would think such a prestigious figure would be able to apply ahead of time--what with their reputation and way of business. They were always known to be prompt, always present in their necessary appearances. And yet, the heiress to the towering Dust company not only applied _late, _but also revealed a considerable lack of refined training. Those two things confirmed, in Glynda's private opinion, that Schnee's father had little enthusiasm in his daughter's wish in becoming a huntsman. There was the eldest sibling to consider, but she had joined Atlas' ranks upon full adulthood. Weiss Schnee was still young, and if her father would have anything to say about it, he would want his company to fall to the next most capable heiress. In the end, something must have happened between daughter and father for the former's appearance today, and Glynda worried she would be dealing with a case of a runaway.

But that was for another time to be fretting over. Weiss Schnee would be attending Atlas Academy and living relatively closely with her older sister at any rate. And to be quite honest, Glynda was starting to finally be fed up with all the paperwork and calls.

_James can handle that mess if it ever comes to the forefront. _The professor inwardly chuckled. _Enjoy, General._

"They're looking for you, Professor."

Hearing Akatsuki's voice stirred Glynda from her mental swim, the latter nodding to the future student in acknowledgement and in thanks before turning around towards the majority of the station.

"All enrolled for Beacon Academy, here!" the professor projected, loud and clear. Glynda smiled lightly upon seeing eager smiles and movement peppered about the crowd within the station, having developed an eagerness herself to guide and lead these potential students towards their future as guardians of their scarred world. Adjusting her glasses, the telekinetic professor reinforced her prim and proper stance and stoicly awaited for the teens to make their way towards her. A glance at Akatsuki revealed the young woman nodding her head in silence, but not at her, but at the space right before her eyes.

_A musical semblance, perhaps? Or just a habit? _Glynda wondered, recalling that Akatsuki's files had no information in regards to whether she possessed any ability save for skilled martial arts. _Perhaps she is starting to nod off. Today has been long, after all._

Inwardly sighing, Glynda Goodwitch hummed as announcements for their pre-boarding began to relay throughout the station.

Glynda dearly hoped that this year's Initiation would not be as dramatic as the one previous. She still remembered how badly Qrow's semblance dragged them through the wringer.

* * *

As the Bullhead engines whined and the earth below passed with a pleasant display of Vale's foliage, the sea having just been left behind as they left Patch, he could not help but immerse himself within this entirely new experience.

Well, perhaps "entirely new" would be the wrong thing to say. For now, however, the flight was his first. None of the visions from before ever showed him more than a few glimpses of forests and archaic architecture, with a few instances of mundane pasttimes here and there. It would be logical, likely a fact outright, to assume flight technology had not even existed within that era. Either way, he found himself enjoying the transport, ignoring the cacophony the rest of the passengers insisted on keeping constant. The one walking by behind him, for example, had been complaining about the odd smell of vomit in the Bullhead for the past several minutes. He could smell it as well, discerning it to be at least a day or two old. He could also smell the faint hints of roses and lilacs--they were actually the most prominent scents he could detect at the moment. They were older as well, with the rest of the cabin's scents he threw aside without a second of consideration.

Body odour and overwhelming fragrances mixing with huntsman equipment and the smell of burning fuel did not sit well with his nose.

Taking a moment to break his attention away from the passing scenery the Bullhead's (more specifically, the "Air Bus" sub-model) windows provided, Abseil isolated his bondmate currently performing marvelously well of being left alone and unapproachable on the other side of their transport. She sat there at the end of the lengthy seats in her usual relaxed position, arms crossed behind her head and all, occasionally snapping open her eye to glare with rather hostile intent at anyone who attempted to approach her. Amused, Abseil wordless pointed out the leers she had been garnering due to her appearance, her outfit giving the imagination such temptation to work with without a doubt. Catching his mental signal, Reiya glanced his way and wordlessly, subtly, gave him "the finger", smirking and then returning to her anti-social matters. Snorting, Abseil turned back around to return to appreciating the scenery.

**_Oh?... Why, that is remarkably potent._**

A familiar hunger he had experienced for most of his time before meeting Reiya roused within, then passed a moment later. Rather than moving on as usual, Abseil decided to investigate this time around.

Now on all fours, Abseil stood for just a moment. Then a blink, and he suddenly stood before a young woman garbed in leather armour, straps and buckles criss-crossing every which way on her front. A whip and pistol were holstered to her armoured thighs, and a haphazardly tied bow kept her auburn hair in a tail off to the side. What attracted Abseil the most, however, was the anguish radiating from her green eyes, and the way she seemed to shrink upon herself despite how casual she appeared to be sitting just outside the pilot's cabin.

**_Now, look at you... _**Abseil remarked as he made a half circle around the Beacon initiate. The girl jolted and whipped her head about as if she had heard him before settling down and shivering at the sudden chill she'd experienced. _**Superior than average instincts, as well. I applaud you, broken one, for detecting my presence even whilst attempting to wrap your mind around the fact that your father started to molest your younger sister once again, now that you are away and there are no eyes to prevent it. How did it feel, broken one, when your sister called to fill you in, in tears and wallowing in fear of your father punishing her should she say a word to the authorities? I imagine it must have been...** _A low, eager growl rumbled from within Abseil before he could stop himself... **_world-shattering for you. To know you left your sister behind to that filthy man, smearing a massive stain over your former excitement for Beacon Academy..._**

Abseil padded closer to the initiate, looking down at her and licking his fangs upon seeing the glassiness in those eyes. She let out a shuddering breath, wiping her eyes free of any threatening tears and attempted to smile, waving at a passing initiate for a moment before she turned to stare out a window.

**_You conflict yourself...Dread for your sister, but relief for finally getting away from your household. You attempt to justify your actions, but they will always linger in the back of your mind. How, despite your capabilities being far more than enough to disable your unemployed, unskilled father, you still fear his reprimand. His eyes, how they lust over you. How his filthy hands eagerly reach for your form. And so, you say nothing, and feebly wish that the situation would solve itself in the end without your intervention._ _But alas, _**Abseil continued, **_you may make a return home in the future should you gather the courage. _His sinister chuckle would have echoed throughout the ship had it not been for his spectral composition. _Do take your time, broken one. I am no longer subjected to hunger as I once was, though I still feel negativity as if it were a blanket for me to keep warm... I will not refuse a feast should you happen to fall on the field. Take care walking on the razor's edge, broken one, it would be a long and irrecoverable fall should you misstep_**.

Another blink, and Abseil sat before the ship's main door, once again admiring the scenery the advanced display showed him as if the door did not exist. He hummed, pondering his visions as he had many times over the course of the last few months while Beacon Academy came into view some ways ahead.

_"All passengers prepare for disembark. We will arrive to our destination in approximately three minutes so please, make sure all of your belongings are secure and on your person when we land...Thank you, future huntsmen, for your bravery and contribution to our world."_

_**Meant to be heartfelt, I am certain.** _Abseil's tail flicked to the side as he wondered. _**This will be good news for her. Less exasperation on her end to put up with my lack of feeling. I can at least tell what one is supposed to feel from these** **sentiments. **_

Satisfied with himself, Abseil waited patiently until their transport crossed the remaining distance towards Beacon Academy.

True to the pilot's words, it was only a mere couple of minutes until they touched down on campus grounds. The door before Abseil slid open with a hiss, allowing the spectre to be greeted with a pleasant rush of air. Before his meld with Reiya, he would have enjoyed the feeling of the wind flowing throughout his fur. But now, he felt the coolness only fleetingly. His fur still lay flush against his skin, and his skin did not even react with goosebumps. He had experienced the coolness, but had not truly _felt _the wind. It was an odd sensation, akin to one possessing anemia and feeling cold without their body sending signals to shiver, but it did little to bother him. To the taciturn alpha beowulf, this was merely another reminder of his newfound way of life with his Madam Akatsuki.

Unbeknownst to him, Reiya sneezed.

Abseil did not bother to move as he detected the combat professor coming near, allowing her to walk through his incorporeal form and somewhat enjoying the shiver she developed seemingly out of the blue. The woman stepped down to the platform, surveying the surrounding area with a hum before nodding satisfactorily and facing the Bullhead.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy. As of now, you are no longer enrollees, but Initiates. Please be quick if you decide to take a moment to scan the campus, but more pressingly, we will be taking to the ballroom where you will be sleeping. I know it is not quite late as of yet, but you will be needing the rest for the upcoming Initiation--two days from now. I advise you all to take tonight to sleep in once we get ourselves situation, then spend tomorrow to familiarise yourself with the campus and finally, welcome your fellow Initiates before the Headmaster launches the Commencement. For now, however, follow me."

_Shit, we're going to have to sleep with an entire room full of people. _Reiya groused, audibly sighing as she caught up and walked alongside her bondmate. _And what do you think she means by commencement? _

**_You seek an answer of the same query I possess. _**Abseil replied, unbothered by the roll of her eyes. **_In regards to tonight, I am certain you can handle a night or two with the lot._**

_I just hope it's not small. _Reiya's head was on a swivel, her focus darting to and fro from the flora, to the carefully crafted architecture of the Academy, over the central fountain of which possessed aqueducts underneath spider-webbing throughout the grounds--Beacon Academy was practically a work of art for the eyes. As the Academy's name implies, the school was meant to be a symbol of hope, and indeed, one would look upon the campus and find themselves basking in inspiration. It truly was beautiful, Abseil would admit, and that was not to mention the waterfalls on the other side of the main buildings either. Impressively, the school did not seem to infringe on the surrounding nature as one would think. In fact, it was almost complementary.

**_If it is, enjoy attempting your best tuning out the excess ambience of sweaty, hormonal teenagers._**

_You just _love _taking it there, don't you?_

**_Would I be wrong for saying such?_**

_... No..._

**_More likely than not, the Academy staffing will periodically make certain no one grants themselves a future with children so soon. I was merely exaggerating._**

Hopefully.

_You know, you make us sound like children. _Reiya remarked as they neared one of the wider buildings, Abseil spotting "_Ballroom_" on a golden plaque across the arch of the entryway.

**_You lot are still young teenagers._**

_I'm eighteen though. Full adult here._

**_When I consider my own age, you all may as well be infants._**

"Welcome to the Ballroom." the combat professor announced, turning around to meet them face to face. Abseil and Reiya kept to the back of the party as per usual. "Now, I must lay down several ground rules: Firstly, you all ought to know how to behave appropriately. However, it must be said, seeing as you will all be sharing the same sleeping space soon. Let me male this clear--" the woman's eyes sharpened, eyes smoldering as she stared down every single one of the Initiates as if daring them to challenge her word. As expected from a woman of her caliber, the entire group sans Reiya shrunk away, Abseil's bondmate having no care in the world. "--there shall be _no _sexual activity on these grounds. This rule is absolute, be mindful of the consequences you shall face should you decide to test your luck." Goodwitch then returned to her usual expression, the Initiates understandably cowed. "Additionally, once lights are off, please be considerate of those around you if you're planning to stay up. I know that I would be irritated should my rest be interrupted by chatter or ruckus. That is not to say you cannot talk with or make friends, but keep the volume down. Finally, no duels or use of weapons until the Initiation, for training or otherwise. Most of the faculties for training here will be closed until the day after tomorrow when all students begin the semester. Should you engage in combat with those around you at any time before Initiation for any reason other than a real emergency, you shall be promptly disqualified for a seat within this academy.

"Do I make myself clear?" Several disjointed nods and calls of agreement sounded off as the professor waved her crop. Abseil took a moment to regard the architecture of the large double doors as they were encased by a purple glow. Slowly, the doors swung open to reveal a grandiose room with polished floors and marble pillars. Twin staircases, centred and ornamented with inlays of gold and silver within the marble, led to the interior balcony. The rails were draped with vibrant red silk and the carpet, pristine and matching in colour. The curtains matched as well, the ones on the upper floor partially drawn to reveal the crystal clear windows in contrast to the closed curtains on the first floor. Directly above the stairs was a decorated wall with a cutout that provided a lovely entry to the upper floor, and a half circle punch-out that extended towards the center of the room--presumably for grandstanding speeches and whatnot.

"I do hope you all brought a bed roll as suggested in your papers. You shall be sleeping on the first floor, you may decide how to separate yourselves as you wish. Should the sleeping area become too cramped when the rest of the first-years arrive, we will accommodate as necessary."

_I spy a corner by the windows for the taking. _Reiya noted as they were led further into the ballroom.

**_Always first to secure isolation. _**Abseil replied, nose crinkling as the smell of cleaning solutions and polish invaded. **_Mind yourself. Despite the professor's words, I have spotted a select few already eyeing you._**

_I saw them too. _Reiya sighed, _Maybe I _should _get some gear that covers more. _

**_Your usual passive expression does more than enough to deter them from trying._**

_Excuse me?_

"As I've said, you have tomorrow to explore the campus as you see fit, with the day after to regroup with the rest of the student body and stand present for the Headmaster's Commencement in the evening. Initiation begins the morning after." Goodwitch repeated. "Should you need anything of me, simply call me by scroll. My contact information should be near the bottom of the last page of your application papers. Please do not call me for trivial matters." Turning around to face them once more, the professor crossed her arms behind her back and cooly scanned the group as she wiped her glasses with a cloth. "Any questions?"

"What's going to be going down for Initiation? Is it more dueling or, maybe another test?" someone asked.

"Initiation will be more of a practical activity. I will say nothing more of it, only that you should prepare for anything and everything that may be thrown at you.

"If that is all?" She nodded at their silence. "On either side of the ballroom is a hallway leading to the locker rooms for you to change into your casual state of dress. Your locker numbers will be given to you by scroll..." The professor procured her scroll and with a single press, and the ballroom sounded off with a series of scroll notifications from every Initiate. "... Now. Have a good night, all of you, and sleep well. You will learn that rest is more valuable than one would think, and is often taken for granted."

**_Bondmate, mine. _**Abseil called, shaking Reiya's focus from the far left side corner of the ballroom. As soon as Reiya turned, she was met with Goodwitch's meaningful stare.

"Please meet me outside after you change, Miss Akatsuki. We have an important matter to discuss with you."

Reiya nodded. "All right then."_ We?_

**_The Headmaster, I imagine. Curious._**

_Think it's something we should worry about, or?_

**_Perhaps, they will attempt to discern your background more. Ozma already knows of you, however, so I cannot say for certain._**

"Do take your time. The night is still an hour or so away." the professor said as she passed through the group, the other Initiates pensively regarding Reiya likely as to why she, of their entire group, would be called out to meet with the higher ups so soon after settling.

As the large double doors were gently closed, everyone meandered about to get changed and go about their evening. Already, the room was abuzz with chatter and laughter. But Reiya, of course, stayed away from it all. In fact, she was the first to leave the ballroom with her things and headed straight for the locker room on the left side.

Abseil followed, quickly glancing back and confirming they were alone, and followed Reiya all the way down to the end of the hallway where a door to the locker room awaited. Wordlessly stepping through and inside, the duo quickly took in the clinical white styling and colour of the room before Reiya led them to the furthest corner with a blindspot that would deter any prying eyes from seeing what they were not privy to.

Thankfully, her locker was not too far from the corner, being only a few spaces back. "Locker #055. This is it. And there's the keypad."

**_"This one smells untouched." _**Abseil remarked as Reiya keyed in the code to the locker she was assigned with.

"I've noticed. Lucky us, seriously. We could've ended up with some jock's old locker." Reiya grimaced, opening up the locker door after the keypad confirmed her password. Immediately, Reiya opened her luggage and threw in (the Dust, she put in carefully due to, well, past explosions) most of her things until her clothes were left.

**_" I still wonder." _**Abseil spoke up, lazily stretching as Reiya began to strip.

"About what? The meeting?" First went her gauntlets, then her greaves. A feeling of confirmation from Abseil. "Me too. I don't think it's anything to worry about. Actually, I wonder if Qrow will be there. Haven't seen him for a while and I still owe him a good haymaker to his face. Ugh, just thinking about him annoys me."

**_"The summer maiden's brother?" _**Abseil canted his head.

"Yeah. Don't think you've met him yet." Gone was her thin crimson jacket, then the corset, and her shorts. "He's a veteren huntsman. Works here. Raven mentioned he spends most of his time scouting in the Badlands though, or other special ops from Ozma."Abseil hummed at the new information. He canted his head again at Reiya's questioning stare. "What?"

**_"Yes?"_**

"What's on your mind? You're staring."

**_"... Did I not see the orphan tear apart your last set for a prank not too long ago?"_**

He watched her facepalm, rolling her eyes at his question. "This?" she asked, gesturing to her black underwear. "I asked Raven to get it for me on her last trip. Right after I clocked Vernal in the face. Seriously, Abseil, I thought you had another philosopher's spell going on in your head."

**_"I ponder often, yes, and my query still falls within that realm of my personality."_**

"Smartass." she chuckled. Abseil then hummed in a query, noticing her staring yet again. "Well, will you look at that."

**_"Something else, partner mine?"_**

"It's kinda creepy with your fangs and all--makes you look more demonic than normal, actually, but you're starting to emote a bit more. Look at that smirk."

Abseil, instinctively, schooled his expression to the usual neutrality as he considered her words. He recalled the bullhead announcement from their earlier flight, how he recognised what was meant to be gratitude from the Initiates due to the pilot's thankful words. **_"I have noticed a return of human emotion, if only barely."_**

"There's a double meaning behind that." Reiya hummed, removing her sports bra then her panties before she tossed them into a separate pocket in her suitcase for soiled clothing. Wrapping herself in a white towel and grabbing her usual hygienic products, she made her way to one of the shower stalls. Abseil stayed by her locker, laying down and resting his muzzle upon the upright suitcase. It was rather comical, the sight of the large canine entity using the above average sized suitcase as a chinrest. "'Human.' You mean you know for sure you used to be one?"

**_"That would be the only logical connection for the visions." _**Abseil hummed. **_"The way I feel this sort of calling from certain things; instruments and music, my introspective and knowledge on certain things past the history of Grimm and the Brothers, the memories, and the human emotions... If I had been Grimm for all of my time here on Remnant, none of these things would make sense unless they are not of my own being. There is a chance, yes, that I am being influenced by the life and identity of another, but such a thing would involve powerful magical means in the art of memory alteration or soul transfer."_**

"And the only beings capable of magic are..."

**_"Ozma, Salem, and the Maidens. The Maidens can be ruled out, as their only magic only revolves around the natural elements. Salem's magic only revolves around the creation of Grimm, as far as I know. Ozma would be the likely culprit, he would be the most versatile in magic out of the lot, and he is older than even Salem so he would naturally have a more expansive arsenal. However, he specialises in time manipulation, perhaps spacial as well. Not to mention, he would have no reason for dabbling in the dark arts of soul manipulation, nor would he create a Grimm. I am not certain if he is even capable of such--."_**

An idea struck Abseil like thunder.

Cold water began to run as Reiya began to shower. _Switching to this while I shower so we can listen out for anyone coming in over the water... Abseil?_

**_My apologies. A theory came to mind._**

_And that would be? _Abseil's eyes snapped to the door of the locker room, regarding the newcomer Initiate before dismissing her as a non-threat. _Heard her come in, don't worry... And she needs to change perfume, the one she's wearing just smells like moldy oranges._

**_Ozma _****does _have experience in soul transfer. He could be the reason why I am in this situation._** Abseil replied, disregarding her words about the other girl's perfume (though he did agree it was rather retched) and focusing on the more important matter.

_He does? Why would he be the one?_

**_He is immortal due to a process most similar to what you would call "reincarnation". Once he "dies", the body he previously possessed would die and his soul would wander until he finds another. One that is suitable, mentally, that has a host with the most similar mindset and beliefs to his own. With time, the original owner would eventually be assimilated, and Ozma would inherit their abilities and live on as that person without anyone being the wiser._**

_Wait, so he can just steal another person's life?!_

**_To be blunt, yes. The transfer is parasitic in nature, there is no doubt, and there is no hope for the former owner to ever regain their body, or even survive the assimilation unless Ozma finds reason in allowing their stay._**

_And you know this because of Salem?_

**_Indeed. _**Abseil confirmed as the sounds of the other girl accessing her locker registered in his ears. **_Salem would aways speak of him to her subordinates. I would be around from time to time should she have need of me, but such a thing was rare. I had been given a scout's role, primarily._**

**_I do not know why Ozma would do this to me, in any case. There is not one reason I can think of, save for, perhaps, spying on Salem as she used me to spy on his works. But that still leaves how he would procure any information from me, and all of this would only hold any merit if he is responsible for my existence in the first place._**

_It's still a theory, but at least we have something to go on. I'm still wondering on _that _night too._

**_As am I._**

_Aura is supposed to be a manifestation of my soul. Then that extends to semblances. For one, we don't even know what happened between the two of us. I guess we can call it absorption, I _did _form a pact with you and all, but then, you still have your free will and your own mind. And we know that I can't use any shadow if you decide so, that's all still from your own ability, and absorption would mean I should be able to use it as if it's my own ability. _Abseil sent her a mental nod of agreement. _Then there's our experiments every now and then. Projecting my aura with my attacks does nothing but kill Grimm faster, nothing ever comes close to what happened that night. No bright light, no burning sensations, no "absorption", nothing._

**_How so and why your aura react to me in such a way, indeed..._**

_Too many questions, not enough answers._

**_There are only but a few words truer than those. _**

* * *

As Rei pushed open one of the doors and went through, leaving the amphitheatre, she took a look around in search for the combat professor. Not seeing anyone but a couple of exploring Initiates, she resorted to take a whiff of the air and utilising her heightened sense of smell.

_She's not that far away._

**_You are flaring your nostrils rather comically right now._** Abseil said from within.

_Sh-Shut up! _Ignoring his chuckle as embarrassment dusted her cheeks, Rei quickly moved over to Goodwitch's general direction. She had smelled a lot of running water as well, and taking that into consideration, she narrowed it down to Goodwitch being near the fountain in the main courtyard. _I thought I got rid of that habit months ago..._

**_You are still attempting to master your new senses, dear partner mine. Of course some habits may slip through._**

_Ugh._

"Professor." Rei called as they neared the fountain.

Goodwitch stood from her seat on the edge of the fountain and dusted off her skirt, adjusting her glasses as she acknowledged Rei with a nod. "Miss Akatsuki." She then wiped a stray droplet from one of her lenses, stepping further away from the fountain as gesturing towards the main building of the academy. "Shall we?"

"I guess this is where I ask if it's anything really serious?" Rei nodded as the two walked, a respectable distance between each other. "Seemed pretty tense with the delivery earlier."

"Nothing you ought to worry about, no. The Headmaster simply wishes to meet you in person, nothing more." Pulling out her scroll, Goodwitch began typing through things so fast, Rei could barely register the blur of the woman's fingers even with her heightened senses. "How are you settling? Hopefully, the keypad for your locker wasn't much of a hassle?"

Rei shook her head, feeling somewhat naked without her equipment. Crossing her arms to feel secure, she adjusted the hem of her grey tunic. With black leggings and a pair of matching boots to complete her casual attire, Rei felt incredibly vulnerable as they entered the main building, not bothering to take in the numerous hallways and facilities they passed. As Goodwitch pointed out the ones of note, particularly the training rooms, the cafeteria, dorm areas, etcetera, Rei only focused on the comfort of having Abseil with her. With him, she was safe, he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

A larger wave of warmth enveloped Rei and she smiled. It was his way of thanking her for the trust. In times like these, Rei wished she could just relax somewhere and enjoy the peace with him. But ever since that meeting with Qrow some months before, it had been nothing but preparations upon preparations and one incident after another that would leave her dead tired by the end of the day. And irritatingly enough, Abseil would insist on her getting her rest over her attempts to stay up with him. Such moments of leisure were rare now, and the last time they had relaxed in such way, aside from the day before on the fountain at Patch, was... well, Rei couldn't remember. That only proved her point further though.

She was sure the two of them would be able to get some downtime soon though. The next day was essentially a free day, and she was already committing the parts of campus she had seen to memory.

"-master's office is just down this hallway." Rei kept her silence, not giving any sort of reaction as Goodwitch opened a set of doors revealing yet, another hallway. Had it not been for the combat professor's guidance, Rei would bet lien that she would be incredibly lost by this point. Beacon Academy was like a maze, honestly, and add that to the fact that this was just about the largest grouping of interiors Rei had ever come to experience, it was safe to say she preferred the smaller, more organised structure of the camps back with the Tribe.

**_He is just past those doors then. _**Abseil remarked.

_This is an elevator. _Rei corrected, recognising that it was, indeed, an elevator due to the cylindrical shape of the doors. When they approached, the doors slid open on their own accord and the two women stepped inside. _They're like a tiny room made to ascend to whichever floor of your choice above, or down. __See? _Goodwitch pressed a key on the elevator panel and the doors slid closed. In the next moment, Rei felt gravity accommodate for their upwards acceleration.

**_Convenient. _**Abseil hummed.

The elevator music began to play.

And Rei waited.

Two seconds. Five seconds. Seven seconds.

_Ding!*_

...**_What sort of torture did we just subject ourselves to? _**

"Headmaster, we've arrived."

Rei returned her focus to the meeting at hand. Sat behind a wide curved desk carved from ebony was the esteemed Ozma, the Wizard. Or "Ozpin", as most would know him. Before him was a small stack of papers, neatly arranged, with the hilt of a walking cane propped up onto the desk right next to his seat. Off to the side was a small computer. It was on, and Rei spotted an angle of her face and what she assumed to be her known records as she stepped closer.

Ozma hadn't acknowledged his assistant yet, but kept his oak brown eyes fixed on Rei. Immediately, Rei felt the pressure from the powerful immortal and fought as much as she could to remain calm, and with a full posture. As silence continued to pervade the room, Goodwitch looking between the two with confusion, Abseil materialised before Ozma with a low, but curious growl.

**_So this is the immortal of legend. Ozma... These eyes are not your own, but yet, they are. Ages upon ages of regret and fatigue tempt you with rest, but you cannot. Why, you wear a crown of silvered hair but your body cannot be older than intermediate adulthood, perhaps. Such stress must be exhausting, Old One. I wonder, do you hear the calls of Death at the very edges of your sanity? Whether it is Death or your own voice calling for release, I am greatly interested in knowing, whenever the day finally arrives..._**

"Headmaster Ozpin. It's an honour." Rei tried out, ignoring how Abseil's head slowly gyrated in curiosity above Ozma's papers.

The Wizard broke away from his stare and opted for sipping the mug of steaming coffee that Rei could've sworn that it had not been there before. Behind his jagged-wired spectacles, Ozma regarded Rei for another second or two longer before "Aah"'ing in satisfaction and standing up. With a hand behind his back, the other resting on his cane, Ozma walked around the desk to meet Rei at a more familiar distance. Offering a hand, Ozma gave a polite smile as the two shook.

"And it is quite pleasant seeing you at my Academy, Reiya Akatsuki. I was afraid of the possibility of you changing your mind to my offer."

Rei could smell the days upon days' worth of coffee staining his green suit now that they were incredibly close. She had to fight not to crinkle her nose. She hated coffee. "I'll be honest with you, I outright told Qrow to fuck off at first when you sent him."

While Goodwitch looked cross for Rei's use of language, Ozma actually chuckled. Rei kept her guard, however, she trusted the immortal as far as she could throw an elephant. "I had expected as much. To be frank, I doubted you would even accepted the offer at all even with time. I suppose you can say I'm pleasantly surprised with your decision."

Rei quirked a brow. "Well that's a surprise to me too. We always figured you knew I'd accept either way."

"Despite how much knowledge I possess in this world, that does not mean I'm all knowing." Ozma countered. "Though, Raven Branwen has always been suspicious of me. I imagine you are as well, with what you must know of me after being around her for so long." Ozma hummed. "How is she, by the way? My last report of her from Qrow was months ago."

"Still bitching around the Tribe and getting work done." Rei smirked, enjoying herself for whatever reason. Maybe it was how Goodwitch kept grinding her teeth at the vocabulary being used with Ozma. Who knows. "And yeah, she talked a lot about you. How I shouldn't trust you, and that you manipulate, everything along those lines."

Ozma sighed. "She never had the brightest opinion of me. And I will not fault her. Some cannot bring themselves to accept the lengths I go to--the sacrifices I've made, to protect this world from the evil that plagues it. I'm sure you share a similar opinion of me, but know I only do what is best for the future of Remnant. I look at the greater picture, and I _do _hurt as well." For a moment, his eyes glazed over, and Rei noted a hint of grey from within the brown, before Ozma took another breath. "I can recall every face, every name of those who gave their lives under my word in our long road to save and preserve Humanity from the Grimm and their Queen." Ozma tapped his cane once with a finger. "I'm sure you know my true identity, and everything that has to do with this war."

Now that was something Rei was unprepared for. She had an _inkling _that Ozma already knew that she knew, but it was just that. A small inkling. And so, he'd caught her in a corner with no backup plans on her end, or anything for her to redirect the conversation in her favour. Even Abseil remained silent when she prodded him for help, the former only urging her to press on with the conversation.

"I do..." Rei said carefully.

"From Raven?"

"Headmas--Ozma." The two glanced over to Goodwitch who had been silent until now. "I believe we should redirect our focus to the most important matter at hand..."

"Ah, yes." Ozma adjusted his spectacles before his gaze returned to meet Rei's. "Miss Akatsuki, I must ask that you answer with complete and utter honesty when I present my question. This is a great deal of importance, and should you prove yourself a threat or if I detect a lie within your words, I will not hesitate to remove you entirely so as to keep my comrades and students safe."

"Ask your question then. I don't have anything to hide." Rei said defiantly, resting her weight on one leg and crossing her arms.

**_Am I not a secret?_**

_I swear to--ABSEIL, I WILL FIND A WAY TO MUZZLE Y-_

"Are you working for Salem, Miss Akatsuki?"

Rei paused before snorting. "No."

Ozma hummed. "Have you come into contact with Salem at all?"

"No."

"With any of her agents?"

"No, but if I have, I wouldn't know."

"Are you lying to me?"

"If I am, why would I tell you?"

**_I have always appreciated the way you wield your candour._**

"It appears she is telling the truth, Glynda. But that leaves us with more questions..." Ozma noted as he cupped his chin, staring right into Rei once more with the latter adopting a deadpan expression.

"Just like that? No magical torture or Interrogation for me?" Rei asked with narrowed eyes.

"I discern the truth almost as easily as breathing." Ozma smiled. "If I had detected the slightest hints of a lie, you can trust that you would be nothing more than a smear upon my carpet."

_Well, that's not threatening at all. _"So what happens now?"

Ozma reached for his coffee and took another sip. "I would like to know more about you, is all."

"Well, professor over there told me this was just a simple meeting from the start. Nothing about being smeared into the carpet." Rei tsked. "So forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of what you're saying."

"Please understand, Miss Akatsuki," Goodwitch spoke up, "we have to take the proper measures to ensure that the Queen did not have her fingers within our ranks. It would be beyond catastrophic of the likes impossible to imagine should she catch us unprepared. That is why we _must _prepare ahead of her."

"Yes, she is right. I ask for your forgiveness for our deception, but the odds are too much to chance without keeping our guard up at all times." Ozma added.

"Fair enough." Rei accepted. "But I'm still careful, mind you."

"Fair enough." Ozma parroted, smiling. "Before we continue, however, I must know--are you the source of the disturbance currently floating about in my office?"

Abseil canted his head, curious as to where this would go.

_Should I tell him? _Rei asked her bondmate, somewhat nervous as she watched Ozma take yet another sip of coffee. _I know we're supposed to keep you under the radar, but..._

**_The choice is yours, partner mine._**

_Fuck, I was hoping you'd make it easier by making a suggestion..._

"Your silence tells me you at least know why I feel the absence of space right over there." Ozma chuckled, indicating Abseil's position not too far off to the side of the man.

_Fuck it, if I lie and they figure it out, they'd only be more suspicious of me or kill me outright. _Rei reasoned, taking a breath before nodding at the two older ones in the room. "I do, yeah. It's my partner."

"Oh?" Ozma hummed. "Do tell, they mask their signatures incredibly well. Had it not been for my paranoia as of late, I would have never detected them."

"A semblance that masks your aura?" Goodwitch decided to throw in thoughtfully. "It must be similar to the one Lie Ren's..."

"Not quite." Rei corrected, and the two's questioning gazes pressed her for further elaboration. "I _think _my partner is connected to my semblance, but I'm saying that more because I don't really know myself how it works or what to call it."

"Interesting." Ozma remarked. "Can you lift their veil then, Miss Akatsuki?"

"Um, I can't." Rei shrugged. "Turns out, no one can see him. They might feel his presence, but nothing more. You're the first to know he's actually there though. I've seen others brush him off like a chill."

"Can your partner understand us?"

"He does, yes. I talk with him all the time."

"May I?" Ozma gestured to the spot Abseil was sitting and Rei nodded, Abseil confirming with her that it was all right. Setting down his coffee, Ozma crossed the distance between himself and Abseil until they were just centimetres apart.

"Please be careful, Ozma." Goodwitch spoke up, brow furrowed in concern.

"He won't attack if you're not a threat." Rei defended. "He's actually as sentient as the rest of us. Really knowledgeable, actually."

"Can you describe him for me?" Ozma asked, tapping his cane again before craning his neck to look up, staring right into Abseil's eyes without actually seeing them. Abseil only stared back, swishing his tail once to express his curiosity.

"Uh, right, about that... It ties into how this connection I have with him is weird. I don't know if it was a freak accident, or if it was my semblance activating, or..."

"Talk to me, Miss Akatsuki," Ozma urged, reaching up and waving his hand about Abseil's muzzle area. Rei watched, completely expecting Ozma's hand to pass right through her partner's form, but was actually shocked speechless when Ozma successfully stroked the side of Abseil's snout. Ozma quickly brought his hand back, as if expecting an attack, but when no attack came, he slowly re-engaged the contact.

_Abseil...?_

**_Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps, it is due to his power._**

"Miss Akatsuki?" Ozma asked again, not paying any mind to the fact he was effectively petting an invisible alpha beowolf on the snout.

"Sorry." Rei shook her head. "It's just surprising. No one's been able to touch him except for me. Everyone else just passes through like he's a ghost. Anyway..." Rei thought back to that night, the turning point for her future. The night their pact was sealed. "It all started the night of the same day you sent Qrow to offer me a spot here. I went out to blow off some steam and figured some Grimm would do me good."

She paused as Ozma stepped away from Abseil and returned to his previous spot right in front of Rei. Goodwitch also stepped closer, right behind Ozma and seemingly taking notes on her scroll. "Please, don't mind us. Continue." Ozma reassured.

"Right." Rei sighed. She then started to scratch an arm, visibly uncomfortable with the situation. Something about Ozma made her feel wrong, like she was being pried apart for information. What made it worse was his eyes. Those eyes made it seem like the man would never hope to hurt a fly, that one would be able to rely on that man without the risk of betrayal. Those eyes and that calm, approachable smile. They did not match the vibes she was getting from him, and it caused a war within her that just resulted in her being plain uncomfortable and exposed to the most powerful man in the world.

Rei nearly jumped as she was suddenly bumped from behind. Looking back found Abseil laying down just behind her, his eyes peering into her own with reassurance.

**_Peace, dear partner mine, you are not alone nor will I allow you come to harm._**

She wanted to hug that creepy head of his, but for the moment, she simply accepted his offer without a word. Already calming down, Rei gracefully leaned against his side, feeling the bone-like armour warm up against her body. The moment she settled, Abseil surprised her by sweeping her legs out from under her with his tail and allowing it to act as a leg rest. Finally, he curled closer around Rei with a pointed stare towards Ozma and Goodwitch.

**_I am here, Reiya. You have no need for anyone nor anything else._**

Rei smiled, feeling herself grow warm in the face from the display. But she took it in stride, sending him a signal of thanks before she returned her attention to the other two in the room. And she almost laughed too, seeing their surprised expressions. She supposed it would be quite the shocker seeing someone suddenly float and sitting midair as if there was an invisible couch.

"Just getting comfortable." Rei almost cackled. Ozma simply cleared his throat and Goodwitch resorted to adjusting her glasses. "Anyway, here's what happened..."

* * *

"... And then, I just felt this _burning. _And I was so _angry_, I just wanted to kill the alpha beowulf. I don't know why I saw so much red, but I did. I remember pinning it down after chasing it deeper into the forest and the rage just kept building from there. I _hated _it, you see... All these images kept popping up in my head.. I thought of my family. I thought of my time in the streets struggling for scraps. Every day I bled after Raven took me in. All the places we've provided protection for, knowing that we would be their best bet against the Grimm since the huntsmen were always too slow... And then I saw the alpha beowulf, and only the alpha beowulf. Cue tunnel vision and a whole lot more red, and next thing I knew, instead of disappearing in a black cloud, the alpha beowulf starting glowing red like my aura too. And then, it was gone. I almost fainted too, but the burning went away and I just felt so exhausted..."

"You projected your aura." Ozma supplied. "It is a rare technique, but not impossible to learn. That would explain how you killed the Grimm."

"Except, it's not." Rei frowned. "I tested that somewhat recently. I read into some books I had Raven, uh, _borrow _for me, about weaponising aura with "chi" techniques or whatever--which made me want to blow my brains out, not going to lie. The authors were all so _long winded. _Anyway, when I got to the field testing, the results were completely unlike what happened that night. My aura didn't wash over the Grimm and turn them into red beacons or anything. In fact, there's no glow. They just crumple up and die. Or in some cases, get launched to fuck off ranges if I pour in enough of my aura."

"How does this relate to your partner?" Goodwitch chipped in this time.

"I have an idea, from what I experienced just earlier." Ozma frowned. "But I do not want to voice this just yet. I do, however, wish to get to the bottom of what occurred that night. Doing so may answer another question I have in mind as well."

"Well, I've told you everything I know." Rei shrugged. "I don't have much insight myself."

"Perhaps, seeing it for ourselves may solve this mystery."

At this, Goodwitch frowned, and Rei was immediately on the defensive again. Beneath her, Abseil allowed a small growl to express what he thought about Ozma's vague statement.

"And how do you propose you do that? Can you read minds too?"

"Actually-"

_Oh fuck, I'm not ready for this._

"-Miss Goodwitch knows of a method to allow us to view your memories in a relatively safe manner. She has made an excellent amount of progress with psychokinesis over the years with her catalyst alongside her primary telekinetic prowess, and of course, that extends to telepathy as well. With her help, we can view your memory of that night and perhaps, discern what exactly came to happen."

"I'm not exactly keen on sharing my memories to be viewed like a movie for all to see like that." Rei frowned. "Not to mention, you know, it's _an invasion of privacy._"

"Should you allow us, we promise to only view that specific memory of what happened between you and the grimm, Miss Akatsuki." Goodwitch reassured. "All you would need to do is to focus on what happened, and we will not be able to see anything else. The mind is a fickle thing, dear, and it will do everything it can to protect itself and its owner. Unless you allow us, we would not be able to see anything but the matter at hand. Only extremely powerful psychics can bypass this safety measure, and while I am plenty skilled myself, I specialise in more tactile applications than anything else."

"This is all up to you, remember." Ozma added. "We can skip this entirely and attempt to sort it out through other means."

_I don't know if I want to do this. _Rei sighed.

**_The possibility of finding answers is tempting, yes. _**Abseil hummed. **_But what the wizard says is true, partner mine, this is up to you. But know that they cannot hurt you. I will not allow it. Furthermore, I will protect your other memories._**

_You can do that?_

**_We are bound to one another, Reiya, I have a presence within you. Should you allow them to venture inside, I will be there. And they will not see what they are not privy to._**

_... I guess it'll be okay for them to try it then. See my memory of that night, I mean._

**_If that is what you wish, partner mine._**

"Are you consulting your... partner?" Ozma inquired.

Rei nodded. "We understand each other's thoughts, emotions, and all."

"I see." Ozma hummed. "Quite the bond. Akin to a familiar."

"I guess that's one way to put it. Kind of accurate, actually. But let's not stall anymore." Rei sighed. "Let's do it."

"You agree to go through with the memory viewing?"

"Yeah." Rei sighed again. "If I want you guys to trust me, I suppose I'll have to show some trust towards you too. And not like I can't defend myself, if anything."

"Indeed. Trust is a two way street, and I'm glad you're allowing us to gain some of yours as we give your our own." Ozma stepped closed to Rei and Abseil, taking care not to accidentally step on the on the latter. He was trying, at least, but gave an apology when he stepped on Abseil's paw. "Miss Goodwitch, if you would please."

"Of course, Headmaster."

Goodwitch stepped up to the fore, adjusting her glasses again as she held out a hand. "Please, Miss Akatsuki, take my hand and relax as much as possible."

Rei accepted the hand but refused to stand. If they wanted her to relax, well, best way to do it was to keep Abseil as close as possible. Rei sunk into his warm side as much as possible without letting go of Goodwitch's hand, being conscious of her heartrate and keeping the anxiety down. Within a few moments, Rei nodded her readiness, clearing her mind and reviewing the memory of that night as much as possible. She felt Abseil's prescience from within reinforce itself like an active shield and smiled inwardly. "Ready whenever you are."

"Focus on the memory, Miss Akatuski. Clear your mind as much as possible."

When Rei nodded again, Goodwitch placed her free hand upon Ozma's shoulder and closed her eyes. When Ozma did so as well, Rei took that as her cue to do the same.

All was silent, and at first, Rei wondered just how long would it take for the process to truly begin. But then, she felt another prod at her mind. This time was foreign, unlike the cold/warmth that represented Abseil's presence. The newcomer felt more solid as opposed to the spectre's light breeze-like touch. A tap, at first, then more of an urgent push. With another inward sigh, Rei lowered her mental defenses and allowed Goodwitch's signature to press forward, followed by an older feeling, nature-like signature that must be Ozma.

Then, Rei felt no more.

* * *

"Your technique is much more refined this time around, Glynda. You ought to be proud, I'm beyond impressed." Ozpin remarked as the two coalesced into form within a familiar forest.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Goodwitch bowed her head as the two took in their surroundings.

"I recognise the mountain range there." Ozpin hummed. "The peak, that one there? That belongs to Subarashii, Anima's tallest mountain which means Mistral is quite the distance away."

"I don't imagine the Branwen Tribe would want to stay near any major settlements out in the open in any case."

"Ah, Glynda, we are being greeted."

Ozpin gestured ahead and the two were met with a towering, shadowy form that stalked towards them without concern. All that they saw was a quadraped form cloaked in darkness, and a single pair of eyes so red, that they made blood and its exact colour to appear innocent.

Ozpin and Goodwitch remained calm, the latter tempted to take up a defensive position but managing to hold still, whilst the shadow came to a stop just metres away.

"I presume you are her partner?"

**_"Indeed." _**Abseil confirmed, his voice surprising the both of them. They didn't expect it speak so humanly, and the pure baritone he possessed was enough to send tremors throughout the area. **_"Follow, and only follow. Stray and you will find yourselves expelled at the very least. Tamper, then you demand evisceration."_**

"You're quite protective over your partner." Ozpin remarked casually as they followed him towards the nearest treeline.

**_"I shall protect her to the very end of our time. If you must, you may challenge my words with an action against her."_**

"That will not be necessary." Ozpin smiled. "I truly seek the best future for my students, including the innocent. Miss Akatsuki has given me no reason to take any sort of action.

"I must ask, however, do you know why her aura signature feels similar to that of the Queen's?"

They watched the massive turn its head to face them.

**_"No."_**

"So you _do _recognise the signature. Which makes perfect sense, you would know as you are Grimm."

The words sent Goodwitch into another fit of surprise, the professor taking a defensive stance but halting at Ozpin's hand. As for Abseil, he simply continued on, unbothered.

**_" I do not. However, whether or not my Master's signature is similar to that of Salem's, matters little to me. I serve and protect my Master as we strive to fulfill her desires. She can decide upon ridding Remnant of Humanity, for all I care, and I will be at her side. My Master is my own, as I am her _****_blade and shield. I care for nothing else."_**

"So you didn't recognise how similar her aura is to Salem's?"

**_"As I have said already, even if I did, it matters little to me, if at all."_**

"You possess a rather unconditional loyalty to her. If you are Grimm, the alpha beowulf she spoke of, you have very little reason to. She attempted to end your life." Goodwitch interjected.

**_"Truly, she has given me what constitutes as a proper life whereas before, I simply followed orders of a woman hellbent on the damnation of our world for no reason save for revenge and spite. Now, I have my own will that I can freely exercise however I wish, and the path is not so singular or narrow anymore. I have come to enjoy this new life she has gifted me, and while I give my Master my undying loyalty, she reciprocates utterly and just as freely._**

**_"I am no longer Grimm. With my Master, I am much more."_**

"So it seems." Ozpin smiled again. "I am interested to see you two continue to grow in this way. The bond is obviously unshakeable."

**_"If you can see that as well as I do, then refrain from questioning it further. The repetitive queries are rather tiresome."_**

The two followed Abseil for a little more, being careful not to stray from the path he set and keeping their questions to themselves for the time being. Every so often, a tear or two would open in the memory scape around them. Warily, the two guests did their best not to look away from Abseil's back. The spectre kept a casual pace, though it was quick enough that the group never lingered in a single area for long.

They eventually came upon a larger clearing where Rei, herself, sat waiting for them. She was atop a hill's crest, eyes blankly staring towards a particular area near the treeline. Following her gaze, Ozpin and Glynda witnessed a frozen, casually dressed Rei midstride in combat with a few fodder beowulves.

"This is where it happened." Rei supplied as they came near, breaking her stare for a moment as Abseil curled around her. She stroked one of his ears and tried to ignore the inquisitive expression she earned from Ozpin at the action. "I was fighting these beowulves trying to vent out some feelings like I mentioned back in the office."

"And where was your partner?" the Headmaster asked, remaining off to the side of the two, with Goodwitch a few paces behind him.

"I think that was him over there." Rei pointed to a pair of baleful red eyes in the shadows of the treeline. "I think I saw him a little before this, but I was too busy fighting the other beowulves to get a good look. Lemme see if I can..."

As if they had been in the middle of watching a movie, the time resumed for the memory, if a bit faster than reality. They watched Rei finish off the rest of the basic grimm, their carcasses rapidly disappearing with the Ursae, before the memory of the girl paused to catch a breath. Not too long afterward, she seemed to notice the pair of eyes in the shadows dart away from the area.

_"GET BACK HERE!" _Rei's memory double called, sprinting after her retreating partner-to-be.

"Well would you look at that? I'm already getting the hang of this memory-scaping."

**_"You took several times to halt the memory in the first place."_**

"Shut the fuck up, Abseil."

Not commenting on their banter, the Headmaster and combat professor continued watching the short scuffle between Rei and what likely was an Ancient Beowulf that was Abseil. Several more basic beowulves arrived to hinder her, but they were dispatched without effort. Though the Ancient managed to put more distance between the two, fleeing deeper into the foliage and prompting Rei to follow her again.

"So this is where I kind of lost it, hehe." Rei laughed sheepishly as the memory played out further, showing another round between her former self and Abseil engaging in close melee. "I saw red at this point. I guess I just lost myself in all my rage and the rest of the fight turned into a blur for me from there." Abseil's memory self was set ablaze by the incindiary dust rounds Rei's double had loaded. "I remember how my aura felt like it just exploded inside of me. Like how you feel when you take up a lot of caffeine-" Ozpin coughed. Glynda stared. "-and you just feel it surge through your entire body. Except it burned. But not in a bad way."

And indeed, Rei's double was suddenly enveloped by several thick layers of her crimson aura. As the memory of Abseil retreated a step or two, obviously intimidated by the development.

"This looks as if you were overclocking your aura." Ozpin mused. "I only knew of a handful of individuals possessing this sort of ability within their semblance, more notably the Arc lineage, but never in such a... malevolent display."

"There is Xiao-Long to consider, Headmaster." Glynda chimed in as they watched Rei's double launch the past Abseil onto his back, landing on him with a triumphant snarl.

"True, but hers is different in execution. She must take damage in order to enhance her own output whereas here, Miss Akatsuki seems to do just that with pure emotion alone."

_"You monsters made me the last of the red-moon clan... You left me with nothing."_

"Now that is curious." Ozpin muttered as a red glow erupted from the past Abseil's torso.

"I didn't notice it before." Rei nodded, "Keep watching."

_"I will make sure you know how it feels... To be left with nothing. And as I hunt every single one of you down, I'll make sure to make each of you die as painfully as the la-."_

The glow intensified, and Rei's double seemed to notice this time around with wide eyes. Before long, a bright flare of her aura lit up the entire clearing. All of them squinting save for Abseil, they watched Rei's double cry out in clear pain as violent bursts of her aura lashed across her body and the area around her, killing grass and plants alike. Then, as quickly as it had started, the light died away, and the double's aura winked out of existence as it withdrew itself into her body.

The Ancient Beowulf she had been fighting, however, was what had their attention. The corpse seemed as if it had been petrified into stone, despite flaking away with its decomposition. It disappeared per usual with it being a dead grimm though, and that was when the entire memory began to blur away. Not before they spotted the fuzzy image of a familiar red-clad figure walking up to Rei's past self, however.

"Raven was there." Ozpin remarked.

"She apparently watched the entire thing go down. Not unexpected of her though, she would sooner kill me herself than to deny me the opportunity to grow stronger on my own." Rei shrugged as they were all swallowed in blackness. Their scenery was a mere void, with a few tears of potential memories to be accessed opening up here and there in bright flashes of violet. "Anyway," Rei said as she stood up and stretched, "I later went back to the tent and cleaned up, and that was when I met Abseil again except this time, he was a floating talking skull. If you can show them, partner?"

**_"Of course." _**Abseil stood as well, facing the other two and soon, his shrouded form became the familiar image of a floating, horned skull with glowing red eyes that Rei was more accustomed to.

"Shortly I got over the shock," Rei continued before they could ask questions, "we made our partnership official after he made it clear I can trust him. The rest from there is history, complete with bonding exercises and the works."

"I must say," Ozpin began, thumbing his chin, "I'm afraid I have never witnessed anything similar to your situation before. The best theory that comes to mind is that you inadvertently formed a pact with Abseil, with him as your familiar. Normally, however, that practice is executed with magicks and unique rites--neither of which, you possess."

"So you two are just as lost as we are." Rei sighed.

"Unfortunately, I cannot come up with anything either, Miss Akatsuki." Goodwitch said as she went over her notes. "Your case may be exclusive to the two of you."

"Whatever the case," Ozpin said breezily before anything else could be said, "I must discuss one more thing with you."

Both Rei and Abseil, who had returned to his hulking, shadowed form, tensed with his tone. Inwardly, Ozpin was cautious and knew very well that what he would be addressing next would not earn him any favourable reactions. Glynda prepared herself as well, crop somewhat at the ready though she did her best to relax her form.

"Yeah?" came the reluctant response from Rei.

Ozpin braced himself, keeping his semblance primed in case of anything. "You were telling the truth when you admitted to having no affiliations with Salem whatsoever. Nothing in terms of contact, communication--"

**_"Speak your mind, Ozma, we can do without the periphrase."_**

"What he said." Rei agreed, not really knowing what 'periphrase' meant but getting the general idea.

"Of course." Ozpin sighed, taking off and wiping his spectacles clean with a cloth. Much like Goodwitch in that regard, actually. "What I mean to ask is if you are aware of the striking resemblance your aura signature possesses to that of Salem's?"

"Bullshit." Rei said immediately, though she did seem disturbed by the idea. "She is pretty much a human Grimm. Grimm do not have souls and therefore, no aura."

"But you just said it yourself, Miss Akatsuki. She is a _human _Grimm, and on the contrary, she _does_, indeed, possess aura, as questionable as that seems."

Narrowing her eyes in a display of her utterly _disgusted _at the thought of her aura sharing a likeness with Salem's, Rei retreated a step whilst shaking her head. "No, that can't be possible. I'm not a human Grimm and I've never even come into contact with her before in any way, shape, or form. And I know for a _fact _that my family didn't either, and they were all _slaughtered _by her so it doesn't make sense that we'd be connected to her in any way."

"I believe you, Reiya Akatsuki, I truly do." Ozpin sighed again. "But this confounds me as well. When I look at your aura, it feels and displays itself in the same manner as Salem's does, with the difference being the fact that hers exudes pure corruption. While your aura does not, it is still malevolent in nature, and I have never come across anything else like it. Whether you are affiliated with her or not, you _are _connected with Salem in some sort of way, though I suppose that is yet another mystery we must uncov-

"Miss Akatsuki?" Ozpin asked, his tone suddenly becoming very concerned as he watched Rei fall to her knees, clutching her head with wide, agonised eyes. "Miss Akatsuki? Are you all ri-?"

He was interrupted with an incredibly sudden, piercing shriek originating from none other than Reiya Akatsuki herself.

The two could do nothing but keep their distance as Rei scrambled away, eyes wide and seeing something that was not there and sputtering at random. The entire mindscape around the party began to tremble, as if threatening to collapse, and the occasional memory tears that would open up had turned into a ghastly red and black colour.

**_What. _**Ozpin and Goodwitch immediately turned around, stances defensive and auras flaring as they were met with the hulking form of Abseil. No longer shrouded in darkness, the alpha beowulf's malevolent eyes promised bloody murder as he stepped forward with a massive clawed paw, his skeletal armour sounding off the encounter with an eery rasp from the movement. **_Have. You. Done._**

Every word was coated with unbearable frost, dripping with venom outclassing that of a baby deathstalker. It was a horned demon that the two faced, and neither were sure how to go about dealing with him.


	7. Update (2392020)

**_So, I'm back. Really sorry for my absence, everyone. Ended up finding out I have a tumour near my colon and the treatments put me out of it for the better part of some months, then covid got worse and I have to try and not go out (immune system is shot now) else I'd risk getting sick instantly, or worse. On the bright side, I'm slowly making my recovery, my baggie of feces taped to my abdomen aside._****_Lately, I've been able to go over my ff and catch myself up to my outline and all. Went over the reviews and all too, and I have to say, I remember one in particular that's rather _colourful, _lol! I'll address that review and some others in the next chapter (it's about 5k words in the making so it shouldn't be too far off from now) and will do my best to further sort out the flaws in my writing. This amateur writer still have a long way to go, but I _do _want to finish this story and fully realise the plot I have in mind._**

**_Also, I've got a new phone now. Which is great, because I type up these chapters on it (no laptop/pc at the moment, sadly) and my last phone had a dodgy screen to work with. This phone is getting some used to though. Its a bit taller, 21:9 screen to body ratio, but hey, its a Sony phone, so I'm sure it'll prove reliable for the next several years. I won't kid myself though, I'm sure a typo or few will still slip through in the chapters, and the mobile app for FF does weird things to the format/spacing/text to whatever I upload regardless so maybe it's moot._**

**_Lastly, thank you for all the follows and favourites! I didn't expect it to push past ten or so on both sides, but I think I saw_** **_almost 50 likes and a little more for follows. That's so gratifying to come back to, and you have no idea how much motivation it's given me. Like I mentioned, the next chapter is already in the making and I've gotten a good amount done in the last two hours. I figured uploading this update would do some good for you all who are wondering or waiting for the next chapter (again, I'm so sorry for the lack of uploads) so hopefully, I haven't lost any of you._**

**_In any case, I should get back to it, haha. But before I go, I'd like some of your opinions on a few things._**

**_1\. Do you have a favourite character already? Who's your least liked character? Why? Don't hesitate to be honest, I will take any criticism as some notes to try and better develop everyone in the story._**

**_2\. For those who are following/liking this story, what's gotten you to do it? A particular chapter? A scene? The characters? I'm curious!_**

**_3\. Is there anything you all would like to see for the future chapters? Mind, it has to be reasonable within what I've put out so far, and it can't stray from the plot too much. But if I can work with it, I'll definitely consider it._**

**_With all that said, I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. Thanks again for keeping up with this story! I'll have the next chapter out relatively soon, so see you all there!_**

**_\--Sin_**


	8. Chapter Seven

**_AN:_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the RWBY franchise or any of its affiliated characters, branding, etcetera, etcetera, save for the OCs._**

* * *

"Now, Abseil, let's not be rash. I understand you are very protective over Miss Akatsuki. However, _this_\--" The Headmaster gestured to Reiya's flailing form, "--is not our intention ." Ozpin and Goodwitch simultaneously gave the bonded duo some distance, the latter's riding crop emitting a dangerous purple glow. "We only wish to help her. Please understand, neither of us have the faintest of an idea why she's reacting in this way."

Abseil had already begun curling himself around Rei despite her current panic, immovable despite her struggling. "STOP IT! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, clawing and even biting at Abseil's form to no avail. Her eyes have completely dilated by this point, seeing something the rest of the party could not.

"**_I am here, partner mine.._****_." _**Abseil tried to comfort her all he could, but he fell on deaf ears. **_Reiya... _**The spectre redirected his gaze to Ozpin and Goodwitch, sanguine orbs narrowed and suspicious. His skeletal mask seemed to morph into an alarmingly aggressive expression, a far cry from its usually neutral appearance. **_"_****_Tell me how I can help her. Speak with haste._****_" _**

Goodwitch spoke up, the spark of an idea flitting across her eyes. "Perhaps... Considering we are inside her mind, we can delve further and attempt to... troubleshoot, for lack of better term, the cause of this."

**_"_****_You are not to dig any deeper than you already have. While you seem to be genuine in claiming that this is not premeditated, I will take no further risks__."_** Abseil rumbled, peering down to a now sobbing Rei.**_ "However, I do believe your proposal holds merit. My bondmate and I have long since been of intimate mind and heart with our time together, and due to our pact... Perhaps, I can.._****_." _**Abseil turned his narrowed eyes on Ozpin and Goodwitch again with a growl of warning. **_"_****_I shall attempt to stabilise my bondmate. Leave._****_" _**

"Would it be wise attempting on your lonesome?" Ozpin asked before Goodwitch can voice her dismay, the latter only wishing to help Rei as well. "While I understand you have no reason to trust us with her wellbeing, Miss Goodwitch is one of the best at what she does. If Miss Akatsuki is experiencing an unstable mental state, we would be able to lend you assistance with fewer risks of damage."

**_"_****_I am certain. I know her mind best, and I am confident my efforts will yield solely success." _**Abseil's eyes flashed once. **"****_Now, leave_** **_us be."_**

"As you wish." Ozpin conceded, brows furrowing in concern as Goodwitch took his hand in her own. "We will be just outside."

With an odd blur to their forms, the Headmaster and combat professor disappeared in a purple flash, leaving Abseil alone with Rei. For a moment, the spectre felt a heavy pang of the likes he'd never felt so deeply before as he looked into her frightened, unseeing eyes. Abseil's fearsome visage shifted to a much softer expression, the glow of his eyes dimming significantly. Carefully, he tightened their embrace and brought his tail up and around, forcing her head to rest against it.

**_"_****_I may be Grimm in origin, and we may have come together in questionable circumstances, but I do know I was once human, dear Reiya." _**Abseil said. **_"_****_And I have come far enough to know for certain that I can and do feel, even if I am a creature born with the sole purpose of devouring negativity...However, I am reborn. I am more. That creature is no more. Here, I stand as your eternal pactmate, and I cherish you dearly. Make no mistake, partner mine, I shall bring you back to proper order._**"

With that, Abseil rested his head upon Rei's.

* * *

_Tears rapidly falling from her eyes, hiccups wracking her body as her sobs joined the cacophony of pure discord that enveloped the entirety of her home. At last, she frantically covered her eyes to offer herself what little protection she could as the deathstalker reared its stinger to strike._

_"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"_

_The next thing to grace her ears was the dying screech of the deathstalker as carapace crunched, innards making an awful _squelch_ and vacating their owner__. Fear yielding to relief, the girl opened her teary eyes, nearly breaking out into a new crying fit as she watched a burly man procure a worn sword from the dissolving corpse of the grimm. Immediately, she made her way to him, crying out as the man dropped to his knees and scooped her up into his arms._

_"Thank the Brothers, I've made it to you in time." her father whispered shakily, red eyes glossy with tears. "Your mother and I were scared to death once we realised you haven't come home from school..."_

_"Dad, everyone is dying..." she sniffed, nightmarish memories of recent coming to mind. Images of her former friends and neighbours being slaughtered by the grimm left and right without any mercy. Her "school", that being a small collection of children gathered at Elder Izanami's home for basic lessons, razed to the ground and her teacher devoured whole by the King Taijitu. Oh, how she ached, running all this time, barely avoiding the grimm._

_"Don't think about that, Rei. Just keep your eyes closed for me, okay? We're going to meet up with Mom." her father assured, Rei nodding and immediately burying her face into his chest._ _Expression drawn into a determined frown, the retired huntsman kept his sword at the ready as he brought them off the main road of the village where most residents were occupying, either doing their best to fend off the incursion or falling victim to their panic. Reo Akatsuki had only one goal in mind now. And that was to reach his wife and get his family to safety._

_The clan be damned. To Reo, nothing was more important than his wife and daughter._

_The wizened warrior was hard pressed finding the sweet spot between the horde of grimm invading from outside the village and the densest areas of activity, doing his best to not draw too much attention. A stray beowolf or two along with a few creeps hindered his path, but so far, it was nothing he couldn't handle. And Rei did her best to stay strong through it all, trusting her father to keep her safe despite his mobility being limited because of her._ _However, not one journey was complete without a massive hurdle to overcome._

Brothers, preserve us. _Reo inwardly cursed as a beringel blocked his path_. _Resembling nature's own gorilla, the beringel had a relatively simple make-up than most grimm, possessing armoured plates on its front and a plain human skull-like mask on its face. And it was massive, being taller than Reo's own 6'2" on all fours._

_"Rei, hold on tight, okay?" Reo felt her nod and grip his shirt like a vice. He tightened his hold on her in return, free hand readjusting his grip on his sword. And as the beringel charged, spittle flying from its maw and gleaming fangs, Reo's bronze sword had shifted to a rather large shotgun within a fraction of a second._

_He pulled the trigger just as the beringel lumbered within effective range, which was still too close to his daughter for his liking. A powerful slug of a round igniting from within the barrel and breaking the sound barrier with ease. A dim red glow emanated from the slug as it buried itself the torso of the approaching grimm._

_Effectively halted from the devastating shot, the beringel roared in fury as it tried to regain its footing, having been knocked back some ways, only to frantically claw at its own chest when the wound caught fire. With this new development, the beast was much too preoccupied on its worsening injury to notice its prey running past. The flames died before long, however, and the beringel quickly charged at their heels, crossing the distance much faster than father and daughter could as they were._

_Lamenting that his initial shot did very little to slow the beringel down, as powerful as it had seemed to be, Reo kept his eyes forward as he aimed around his side, firing off several more slugs at the grimm. While a few connected, they only seemed to enrage the beringel even more, hardly doing anything to slow it down. It was as if the beast's rage mounted more and more with each injury it sustain. It was relentless._

_Reo cursed when he felt a mighty slap threatening to break his back, the force knocking the man off his feet_.

_"DAD!" he heard his daughter cry out as the two separated mid flight, crashing and tumbling across dirt and cobblestone in opposite directions. As he made to get back onto his feet, Reo's immediate thought was of his daughter in the beringel's vicinity, but fortunately, in a grim sort of way, a great backhand across his face confirmed that the grimm considered him the priority target._

_Crashing into one of the village's outer walls, Reo could feel his aura drop to an uncomfortably low level. A soft orange glow flared around his form before waning, reminding him that he didn't possess the vitality he once had. Blinking away the spots in his vision, Reo glared up at the approaching beringel, noting his horrified daughter seemingly trying to keep herself as small of a target as possible behind the grimm._

_Sighing wearily__, Reo stirred his innermost true power. His semblance. Eyes flaring orange, the man felt some years of his life slip away and collect in a pool of unbridled purity at the palm of his hand. The beringel flinched as it came one step too close while Reo grinned like a madman._

_A couple of years of his life traded away for pure anti-grimm power._

_Seemed fair enough._

_The pool of purity then condensed into a single, focused point at the tip of his index finger. With that, Reo smirked at the cowed beringel and imitated a finger gun at its mask._

_"Bang-bang."_

* * *

"She's still stable. That's good. Still, I wish he had accepted our support." Ozpin tsk'ed, frowning while Goodwitch expressed her own concern over their student. "All there is left to do now is to be patient."

"I still don't like it, Headmaster." Goodwitch stated as she looked Reiya Akatsuki up and down, the latter tossing and turning in her suspended state. The most unnerving thing was what exactly kept her suspended in the first place. "She has a living, sentient _grimm _for a semblance."

"So it seems, but his words intrigue me nevertheless, Glynda." The headmaster stroked the handle of his cane with a thumb. "'Abseil', was it? He claimed he was more than a mere grimm. That he no longer existed with the baseline urge to bend the knee to Salem's will. That's not to mention his rather evident loyalty to Miss Akatsuki. I believe we can safely assume she is not our enemy and therefore, neither is her semblance of a partner. For now, at least. We do not know all the details."

"Are we really risking the safety of the rest of the students for them, Headmaster? Forgive me for my harsh words, but I would much rather be safe than sorry."

"What do you suggest we do, Glynda? Turn them over to Atlas for study? No, that'd be a life sentence for imprisonment." Ozpin sighed. "I'd rather not isolate her within the Academy either. For now, I believe the best thing to do is to keep a close eye on the two of them--well, on Miss Akatsuki, at least, for I have no idea how to go about seeing her partner in any traditional method. Should they step out of line... We shall do what's necessary." He glanced at his deputy headmistress. "Were you able to glean anything from their entrance exams?"

Goodwitch cleared her throat. "Not very much, unfortunately. Obviously, there was nothing that suggested Abseil was present during the written evaluation--I suppose she _may _have drawn information from him for certain questions revolving the grimm, but none of her answers implied any knowledge she _shouldn't _have. Our short meeting with her earlier aside.

"As for the practical portion of her exams, Miss Akatsuki was pitted against the SDC heiress herself."

Ozpin chuckled. "I can't imagine the latter was very pleased throughout."

"From what I saw, she was still very much displeased about having to actually take part in the exams. Miss Schnee made no retorts, however, and fell in line with the rest." Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "Anyway, as you know from my reports, their match was... one sided, for the most part."

"You made it a point to describe Akatsuki's method of combat as very unorthodox."

"Indeed, Headmaster. It was wild. Feral. But it held a grace the likes of a professional dancer. You would watch her fight and see an opening, or counter, in her advance. But she would floor your expectations and instead of falling to a counter, she covers her bases at the very last moment. It is as if she fights with improvisation, and at the same time, she contradicts her own style with sudden predetermined commitments."

"An unpredictable, adaptable fighter." Ozpin hummed. "One might say, she fights with her instincts, rather than with a coordinated plan."

Goodwitch rolled her fingers across her clipboard. "Instincts... Yes, that would be a good way to describe it."

"It would make the most sense, considering her partner." They paused as a lone tear escaped from Reiya. Her eyes were still clenched tight, her body tense and struggling against her suspended state. "It would not be too much of a stretch to say she has adapted Abseil's beowolf nature into her style. If they are as bonded as they say, such an adaptation would not be very difficult to manage."

"Ah!" Goodwitch held up her pen in an epiphany, startling Ozpin mid-sip from his coffee. She didn't bother questioning where he'd gotten another mug. "Schnee's summons!"

"What of them, Glynda?" Ozpin muttered, trying his very best to wipe off the coffee droplets from his suit.

"Schnee attempted to attack Akatsuki through the use of her summons. Nevermore, specifically. But they were banished almost instantly and ultimately ineffective for the remainder of their match. But Akatsuki hadn't done anything." Goodwitch thumbed her chin. "When Akatsuki signed in for her exams, she'd submitted that her semblance was 'Umbra'."

"Shadow, or a complete lack of light." Ozpin nodded. "We know that Abseil is, or at least, a part of her semblance, and he is invisible to the naked eye. He must have been the one to dispatch Schnee's summons, the 'Umbra'."

"He must be." Goodwitch made a note on her clipboard. "It would explain how she was able free herself from Schnee's prison of vines without the usage of her limbs. All the peculiarities during their match can be chalked up to Abseil..."

Ozpin allowed his deputy to gather her thoughts while he collected his own. _How dangerous are you, Abseil? _He redirected his attention to the last Akatsuki, suspended just in front of his lift. _And you, Miss Akatsuki? Are you two truly on our side? Is Abseil merely manipulating you under Salem's will? Are you meant to be allies, or defectors? Is there enough cream in my coffee?_

"Aside from the brutality of her combat prowess," Goodwitch eventually began, ignoring Ozpin's concerned glare at his coffee, "I can't say there's much for us to work with in terms of their intentions. Although, that is also not even considering the fact Branwen practically raised her."

"Raven Branwen detests me, that much is true." Ozpin nodded, setting his coffee aside for now. "But she knows fully well of the war between myself and Salem. She does not want to be involved. It's why she went rogue, and it's a factor in why she allowed Miss Akatsuki to be under our supervision." He tapped his cane against the floor once, eyes settling on Reiya again. "Raven now knows how similar her signature is to Salem's. Why that is, we do not know. Yet. It's very likely due to her peculiar bond with Abseil. Or something much more sinister. Either way, despite the camaraderie, or dare I say it, maternal affection she may hold with Akatsuki, she also values her tribe and survival above all else. Having Akatsuki stay would pose a risk too great for Raven to overlook."

Goodwitch sighed and nodded, eyes skimming through her notes though she hardly absorbed the information. "She must be suffering, Headmaster. If she held any sort of affection for Miss Akatsuki, it would be the second time."

"We may never know, Glynda. Though, I would imagine she feels _something _of the sort. After all, she checks on her daughter from time to time, if Qrow's reports are accurate. Otherwise..." Ozpin peered out of his tower towards the horizon, precisely in the direction of the Grimmlands where his eternal enemy sat upon her throne, possibly watching. Waiting. With a sneer. "As powerful love can be, it can also be very frail and unsuspecting. Take that from me, Glynda, who'd know that very well over the course of thousands of years."

* * *

Abseil expected many things to happen from his excursion to the deeper recesses of Reiya's mind. After all, they were bonded, and he knew her in and out like the back of his ha--paw, and she, him. But of all the things to happen as he stood there on a very fragile plane of his partner's mind, _this _was hugely unpredicted.

_"Hello, darling. It's lovely to see you again, though, domestication is quite the surprise to see from you."_

**_"Why are you here." _**Abseil asked, monotone and ignoring his instincts to attack the Queen of the Grimm outright.

Salem smiled, almost serene, the black of her sclera threatening to drown out her scarlet irises. _"What, I can't check up on you?... Hm, no, that was too cliché. Allow me to reiterate." _Salem cleared her throat, and the next thing Abseil knew, she was right in front of him. He hadn't even seen her move, his only warning had been his instincts screaming for him to move, but he held fast even as she stroked the underside of his chin._"I mean, I've come to see how one of my most valuable of soldiers are doing. And from what I see, you have been doing... nothing. Why? Where's your loyalty to me, hm?"_

**_"You speak of a farce, not of loyalty. From a mindless, vacant creature whose purpose was to fulfill your every will without failure." _**Abseil retorted calmly. **_"That creature has long since been dead, False One."_**

Salem didn't seem to be bothered by his words, though the last words he had uttered seemed to pique her curiosity. _"Oh?_ _What a terribly negative name to give me. What have I done to deserve such disdain?"_

**_"Many things deserving a name of the worst degree, mark my words." _**Abseil huffed, as if amused. **_"You sit on a false throne, commanding with false authority, existing with a false humanity and skin. No, your very existence is a farce." _**Salem was no longer smiling, only adopting a neutral expression that Abseil caught and capitalised on. **_"You bask yourself with talk of power and control. But what of it? You have walked these lands for thousands of years and yet, you remain rooted exactly where you have always been since the day of your resurrection. Even now, you are here only by projection, sat protected behind your crumbling walls on a crumbling throne with an army of mindless puppets, for coining them 'soldiers' would be much too generous for what they are. Should they ever regain their identities, they would return to the original task, and leave you to wallow alone in dust."_**

_"You must've grown addled in your time away, darling." _Salem tsk'ed. _"And here I thought we would reconnect and perhaps utilise your new development to our advantage."_

**_"_****You _must be addled, False One, for you speak as if our one sided cooperation still holds."_**

_"Watch your tongue." _Salem hissed, stepping away, roughly letting go of him. _"Look at you. You're _pathetic_. You're domesticated, and deluded to think you can challenge me without consequence."_ She sneered._ "You're more of a rebellious house pet than a proper soldier under my care. Size, mind, and all."_

Abseil nonchalantly regarded his current form, having chosen his smaller dog-like size and appearance. **_"How I chose to appear is of my own reasons. In this case, you see, this form is symbolic of my loyalty for _her. _She has saved me from your illusion of existence, and more, and so, I shall express my gratitude and loyalty to her in way of looking up to her very character. Damaged as she may be, reckless as she loves to be, and lost in the world as she certainly is, I know deep within what little remains of my original soul that Reiya Akatsuki is the one I wish to serve and support for the rest of my time." _**Abseil's ears flitted to and fro, before he settled his eyes in the direction where Reiya's consciousness seemed to be.**_"That her soul completes my own. You need not belittle yourself even further, False One, expressing something so infantile as envy."_**

_"How _dare _you?! To have the utter _gall _to speak to me in such a way." _Abseil noted her her porcelain-like skin seemed to crack, pushing black veins spiderwebbing across her visage and into her eyes. Her equally pale hair seemed to whip about in a frenzy, while her dark nails resembled claws more than anything. Objectively, Abseil would admit, the False One possessed an attractive appearance that would force even the slowest of humans to appreciate. But as she stood now, furious with the corrupted, diluted power of the Brother God of Darkness actively flaring within, she was rather atrocious for the eyes to digest.

**_"Should our stalling be over with, I would largely prefer you release my bondmate from whatever torture you are putting her through." _**Abseil continued smoothly. **_"Thereafter, we need not interact any further."_**

_"And what makes you think I have anything to do with it?" _Salem sneered cruelly, calming herself while she slowly transitioned back into her original appearance. _"It's as you've said. The girl is damaged. She is merely having what one may call a night terror, darling. What with your _bond,_" _Salem soured at the word, _"you alone ought to be enough to free her."_

**_"Am I to believe your presence is purely for a social call, False One?" _**Abseil almost growled. **_"Forgive my skepticism, but your timing is rather suspect."_**

_"I've nothing to do with her current plight."_

**_"Perhaps, not directly. You speak half-truths. Why then, does she share a signature similar to your own?"_**

Salem allowed her surprise to show. _"I'm impressed, darling. While your senses are bounds beyond your brethren, I did not expect you to be able to see the connection between our souls so clearly."_

_**"If** **only through the barest of a window." **_Abseil conceded, his eyes narrowed. **_"I was not too certain before, though Ozma confirmed my suspicions. Answer."_**

Salem only smiled that serene smile again, fully calm and in control of her temper once more. _"Now, I can't just spill the beans, now can I? Tut, tut, no. If you want to know why the girl's soul shares a connection to my own, catch up on some history and find out for yourself." _Her image flickered for a moment, earning a snort from the spectre.

**_"Your strength is failing you being so far. Perhaps, a rest against your poorly throne would do you some good."_**

Salem was unimpressed. _"You may have had some time within my ranks, darling, but I find it amusing that you think to know me so well. You know how much power I hold, weakened as it is over the years notwithstanding." _The False One clapped her hands with mocking glee. _"I can easily snuff out this girl's life with but a snap of my fingers. Mock me all you'd like, but my patience is _not _infinite."_

**_"I know you well enough to be certain that would rather preserve what strength you have. That you have been waiting for the proper moment to strike throughout all these many years." _**Abseil supplied, not backing down. **_"As much as you threaten to kill her, you are merely bluffing. If you wished to, you would have done so long before now. You have been watching us, clearly. We must hold some value to you still, despite my defection. I know that even now, you stall your shadow war with Ozma. You hide your hesitation behind your motives. Pain for his betrayal some millennia ago. Envy for his place in society amongst your people while you are stuck in a wasteland. Resentment towards the Brothers __cursing you with immortality so very laced with irony. Revenge? For what exactly? You do not even know yourself. For your children, even as you both are equally responsible for their deaths? For your curse? Ozma already suffers through endless, restless reincarnations until you truly die, False One... Hm, or perhaps, you seek the Relics in order to undo what your actions have brought to the modern day and to bring back what you used to have.. A proper life, magic, even your children.. I may not know what you want, False One, but I can certainly weed out your indecision deep within your intentions."_**

Salem simply scoffed, but it was clear his words had irked her. Turning around, Salem lazily waved towards the deeper end of Reiya's consciousness._"Your words changes nothing, darling. My own motives clearly don't matter so much to you as they are a source of amusement, apparently. If I am reading you properly, then I can safely assume you will not interfere with my plans in the future for now... Go on then. Save your partner from her nightmares." _Her image flickered again.

**_"That has been my intention all along at any rate." _**Abseil remarked as he walked past, taking a moment to glance at her. **_"Of all things, you allow me passage without issue. You may say that is solely based on my apathy towards your petty war, but what is to stop her from wishing to be involved? What then?"_**

Salem craned her head back and laughed, seemingly manic. Abseil said nothing in all that time and before long, Salem merely gave him the most amused of expressions.

_"When you've lived as long as I have, with so many of your desires being just out of reach, you tend to grasp at anything to spice things up, let's say. To be clear, I will still be watching you two. After all, time is all that's needed for even the smallest of changes, and a small change can lead to an overwhelming transformation."_

**_"You are curious."_**

_"And you are far more clever than I had ever expected you to be from the day you were reborn. Twice over, now."_

The two shared a stare off, neither moving with the occasional flicker in Salem's image that grew more rapid until she could not ignore it any longer. As her image faded away, Abseil turned back around, focusing his attention on relieving Reiya once more.

_"Do take care of your future, darling. I may have lost one of most valued units to your partner, but you still have much to lose and risk whilst maintaining your eternal pact."_

**_"Begone, False One. We shan't converse any further." _**Abseil didn't bother turning around as her voice began to fade away.

_"You were always the blaise one. But so clever, and oh-so loyal. It makes me wonder just how much you will change tied to her side."_

**_"Leave."_**

_"Farewell. Savour the fact that you are not alone anymore, my darling Elias."_

Abseil froze.

Cold as harsh as the most powerful of ice dust bit his bones.

Abseil turned around, fangs bared and his tattered wings unfurled in a menacing display of pure unadulterated aggression.

But he was... alone.

... No. He wasn't.

* * *

_"REI! THANK THE BROTHERS!"_

_Another sobbing fit threatened to burst from Reiya as she allowed herself to be brought up in her mother's embrace, the two holding each other tight and never wanting to let go. Reo smiled wearily with a relieved sigh, joining in and completing the family of three. "How are the others?" Reo whispered, looking his wife in the eyes over the top of Reiya's head._ _His beloved Yuna brushed her fingers across her daughter's hair. Her own platinum hair was dirtied with soot and blood, but not her own, thankfully. Reo's heart squeezed rather painfully as he noted the lack of light behind his wife's amethyst eyes as the latter sighed._

_"Everyone else here are all that's left.. The rest are either fighting the grimm, or.. gone."_

_"Fuck." Reo sighed. His daughter jumped, but that was to be expected. He had noticed some time ago that she would always be startled by his cursing, which was fair since he'd always made it known that cursing was prohibited within their family. He supposed it only told her how truly bad things were._

_"Reinforcements won't be here in time, there aren't any deployed Huntsmen nearby save our own..." Yuna muttered. "For now, all we have are you and the others fighting out there."_

_"Please don't go, Dad."_

_Reo lowered his head to kiss his daughter on the forehead, hugging her and his wife even tighter. "No, I'm not going anywhere, Rei." Looking up, Reo counted a little over two dozen others huddled in their own corners within their temporary safe haven, the dust storage room at the eastern border of the village. They were hidden underneath several metres of earth, the reason being that constructing the dust storage underground would avoid the attention of bandits and the likes. Thankfully, it seemed they were doing well in hiding from the grimm as well. But for how long? Reo was certain that the negativity they were emanating will be more than enough to attract the grimm to their very location._ _And at that rate, they'd all be trapped inside with no way out but through the grimm._

_"We can't stay down here for too long. It'll only be a matter of time..." Reo warned. Scowling, he raised his voice. "Show of hands, Huntsmen!" _

_Reo blanched at the absence of hands._

_"Can._.. _Can any of you lot fight?" More sweat accumulated across his brow. A few rivulets managed to gather at his eyes and he had to blink them away after a quick swipe of his thumb. "I do not expect nor do I demand your help. This attack... is of the likes we've never dealt with before, and-"_

_Reo was met with pleasant surprise, and an overwhelming sense of pride as most of their party were at their feet, with mostly makeshift weapons at the ready. __An odd sort of chuckle escaped from the wizened man. Somber, yet reverberating with no small amount of pride._

_"All right then. Gather 'round, we don't have much time so listen well and memorise what I say three times." He faintly heard his daughter try calling out to him, but she was quickly hushed to silence by his beloved. "I will not sugarcoat our situation here. Our home is lost. Whatever remains of it is burning to ash as we speak. As for our chances?" He chucked without mirth at their worrying expressions. "Several King Taijutsu, Ursae Major... and I am pretty sure I heard the call of a Nuckaleeve not too far away from the village limits. That's not to begin considering the countless number of fodder grimm in between."_

_As if the fact most of the grimm out there were fodder-tier soothed any. They were outnumbered. And outgunned, so to speak._

_"So.. what are we going to do?" _Ah, one of the more promising lads, _Reo hummed as the speaker stepped forth. Given plenty of training, the sandy blonde would make a fine Huntsman. Easily, up to the likes of an elite given enough experience in the field. But as it stands, the boy was merely one of the blacksmiths of their village. A very capable one, albeit, but a blacksmith with hardly any hand in combat nonetheless. "We're up to our necks, we can't possibly manage an all out assault..."_

_"That is why I propose something more akin to guerilla warfare, Citrine." Reo waggled a finger. He withdrew a knife from a sheath clasped around his thigh, dragging the point across the floor to depict the general layout of their home and their exact position."From what I saw out there, most of the grimm and our Huntsmen were centralised here." He'd indicated a point somewhere near the western end of the village. It made sense, he'd only just realised at that moment. The village gates were at the western border, and most of their Huntsmen were lodged in that area whereas the opposite of the village was unreachable for the most part. And even if they were approached by naval means, any and all outsiders would quickly be seen crossing the massive lake._

_"We can use the tunnels to make some rounds around the village." he continued, indicating another set of thick steel doors on the other end of the room. "Our current plight warrants enough reason to make use of our last resort contingency--there are several powerful dust bombs carefully stored along the tunnels. We will all go to arm them along the borders of the village, rendezvous back here, and bring the grimm down with it."_

_"You're asking us to destroy our home!" Someone else had shrieked at him, but Reo never looked up from his makeshift map. He only focused on keeping track of what little time they had left to act._

_"I am asking you all to put in the effort to _survive. _The few of you much younger than the likes of me and your other elders--I understand that you are afraid, and that this seems entirely wrong, but the rest of us knows what's at stake. Your friends and loved ones out there fighting do as well. They know fully well what can happen in the next few minutes. They are content to sacrifice themselves for the good of the village, even if only a few of us make it out of this nightmare."_

_"I don't want to do this." that same person argued, stamping their feet in a futile display of finality._

_"Then you can sit this out while the rest of us fight." Reo snapped. While he should know better than to lose his temper, especially to someone who barely looked to be in their early twenties, maybe even late teens, they were losing more and more time with every word spoken."This area should be well buffered from the bombs. Once we return and set them off, we will pick off any stragglers that find themselves in the resulting crater. Be mindful of Nevermore overhead and the possibility of the Nuckaleeve surviving the blast. If anyone spots a Nuckaleeve, we haul ass out of here and make for the lake. Hopefully, we still have a few boats intact. They should be enough to outrun most of the grimm."_

_Sighing, Reo met each and every one of their eyes. Trepidation, restrained fear, even doubt littered every other member of their small party. But flitters of hope sparked to life all the same. They just had to do their best and stick to the plan. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to walk away from this shit-show and live another day._

_"Aside from you," he pointedly dismissed the upstart, "who else wants to sit out? Again, you will not be shamed, nor will anything be held against you. This last ditch effort.." He resisted wincing again. He had already failed in staying confident for them all to rally behind his words. He didn't want to falter again. Not when everything was on a very thin line now. "Well, you must be ready to give your life. To acknowledge you may lose a loved one apart from the brave men and women fighting up there." Reo dipped his head in respect for those mentioned. "Make your decision now. We will advance in two minutes."_

_Without another word, Reo turned to face his wife and daughter. Immediately, they fell into his embrace. Tears were to be expected, but Reo would be proud to admit that the tears he was shedding were in the name of protecting his family. His two priceless lights in the darkness that was the world around them._

_"Reo..." Yuna sobbed, cradling her husband's head to her own._

_"Stay here with Rei, dear...Protect her." Reo did his best to smile for them. He knew fully well that they saw right through him, but damn it all if he didn't try. "I will be back. You'll hardly notice my little trip."_

_"Ever the dork I'd fallen in love with since that night you tried to serenade me." Yuna laughed, albeit with sobs wracking her voice._

_"Hey, I'm no singer. But you know damned well I played that violin like a pro." He grinned, eyes bright with mirth and loving. Yuna only gave another weak laugh and held her husband's hand in a death grip. Reo easily saw her contemplating not letting him go._

_Looking down, he met eyes with his little Rei. "Hey there, my sweet little Moonlight, I'm going to go for just a little bit, okay?"_

_..._

_Rei struggled to get her words out. "D-D-Dad--" a hiccup, and a rather painful one at that, only encouraged the girl shed more tears. "You always s-say that it's not-t-t--it's not okay to lie..."_

_Her father smiled, and she hated how obvious her father was trying his best not to break down in front of her. Her father was the strongest man she knew. He shouldn't be crying. It was the scariest thing she'd ever seen. Scarier than the monsters they had barely escaped from not too long ago above ground._

_She almost wanted to hide behind her mother when her father gave a laugh as he wiped a tear that managed to escape his eyes. "And why are you bringing that up all of a sudden, hm?"_

_"I... I can.. I can hear it in your voice." Rei tried. "You're going away." She'd meant those words in way of death, but she couldn't bring herself to say such a thing. Not with her father. Not him._

_"I know it's scary, baby, I know.." He drew her in for a hug again and Rei held him as tight as she could muster with her small frame. Her father was strong. He was strong. He wasn't weak._

_Not like her._

**They were going to die. All of them.**

_"Let me promise you, Rei, okay? I promise that I'll see you again, in no time at all."_

_Whether that'd be alive, or in the afterlife, Rei knew was what he tried to say. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to turn her into a complete mess either. Rei sometimes wished she was stupid. She'd be able to easily digest his words and be happily oblivious. She really wished she was stupid._

_"Okay.. Dad?"_

_"I love you, Moonlight."_

_"Love you t-too, Dad..."_

_Rei felt her father plant a kiss to her cheek, along with a loving ruffle of her hair from his rough hand. She also heard her parents kiss above her, whilst trying to ignore the hot droplets of tears they leaked onto the top of her head._

**They will die.**

_"Protect her, my love." she heard her father whisper._

_"I will. Come back to me, Reo. Please."_

_"I'll always be with you, my beautiful cresce--"_

_Then, it happened. Like she knew it would. Again. It was never different, no matter how many times she suffered through it._

_First, came the tremors. Then, came the scream. It was the same as always. Bloodcurdling, threatening to shatter her eardrums. Her entire world felt like it was shaking, like some sick case of tinnitus. The distinct, visceral sound of gore splattering about across the room. She felt those same droplets pepper her arm and her father's back._

_The unshakeable grip of fear returned. It was the same as always, like the rest, but she'd never be used to it. It held her like a frosty vice, threatening to suck out whatever air she had in her lungs. Her eyes, wide and frantic, tracked the dark form of the scorpion-like grimm that was the massive deathstalker. It was halfway burrowed into what was supposed to be their safe room. It's latest victim lay in two areas of the room at the same time, bisected and organs splayed around in a gory, gruesome manner._

_She used to talk to that boy every day. He was a good friend, the blacksmith apprentice. His eyes had always been filled with a warm excitement, eager for all of his little projects scattered around in the smithy. His eyes were dull now. Staring at nothing with hardly any evidence that he had seen what was coming._

_Once her parents fully recognised the threat in the room, another deathstalker burrowed its way inside, but from the opposite angle. It had impaled one of the older women in the group on its way to surfacing, the stinger easily making short work of the bloody mess that used to be her skull._

**Their auras weren't roused in time. Pity. Such a fatal flaw in trying to stay undetectable from the grimm.**

_It was probably her fault, Rei slowly registered as the rest of the party scrambled to action. Everyone had been doing their best to stay calm, but she? She had been crying her eyes out the entire time like a big, big baby. She had probably been pouring out negativity like a fountain._

_Another shock of ice gripped her heart as two more villagers fell victim to the deathstalkers. Her father was shouting for everyone to group up and attack, but in the panic of the situation, no one could manage anything._

**They died so easily. But painfully. You couldn't do anything.**

_They were dropping like flies. Her father managed a to slice off the stinger of the first deathstalker, but the second one was making short work of the other villagers while he was preoccupied. Their makeshift weapons did nothing to the grimm's natural armour. It was her second reality check. The first being, that people died all the time in the world. The second... They were all ill-equipped in their fight against the monsters Remnant had to offer._

**Such a hopeless endeavour to survive.**

_Hopeless, it was. Rei faintly registered the ache at the base of her throat. It was an odd thing, to realise that you had been screaming your lungs out the entire time and yet, you couldn't hear yourself at all. Her world was so muffled, and the shaking never subsided. If anything, it got worse, and she felt like she was going to fall over and throw up everywhere. _

**You'd drown in your own puddle of vomit if you do that, stupid girl.**

_The whispers were always there. They never gave her a break. She couldn't exactly tell the differences among them. Whether they were human or inhuman. Whether they vaguely resembled a man's voice, or a woman's, or a child's, or an animal's. She just couldn't tell. But they were always loud. So loud. It hurt her head. Like the time she fell from the porch and gave herself a concussion, but worse._

_Her father managed to block a deadly swipe of pincers, but the deathstalker managed to force him into the wall. Screeching, it made to end him, but her father--oh, her father, the strong man that he was, managed to roll out of the way of its sharp legs. Scrambling to his feet, he screamed for assistance, but he would receive none._

_He glowed that orange glow that Rei had only ever seen once before, and that was earlier above ground. He had explained it was his aura. His semblance, being, its unique weapon. His superpower. Rei had wondered if having aura truly made a difference. By the looks of things, and what was to come, it probably didn't that much._

_She faintly heard her mother scream for her._

_No... How could she have forgotten? Or maybe, this time, she could finally bring herself to look away?_

_Alas, she couldn't. Her vision flooded with tears, her world bathed in a haunting, suffocating red, Rei turned around to see her mother standing tall, albeit shakily, with her facing away with arms out wide in a protective manner._

_Even as she knew what was coming, nothing stopped the eruption of blood dousing her entire front. Some made it into her eyes, and Rei frantically wiped at them to clear her vision. But by the time she managed it, her mother was already on the ground, spread-eagle and lifeless._

_Her image would forever haunt Rei's memories. Blood leaking in droves from her mother's mouth and from the gaping hole in her middle, eyes frozen wide and fearful, and her favourite dress permanently stained with viscera, Yuna Akatsuki ceased to breathe without giving her daughter the chance to say goodbye. Or that she loved her._

_Rei would forever miss the sound of her mother's voice._

**What a weak woman. Even with aura and having served the kingdoms all those years ago, she couldn't even fight and defend her daughter.**

_"NO! YUNA!"_

_Rei fell to her knees, tasting the saltiness of her tears as she let out a hoarse, near silent wail . She wished she could do something. She wished she could change this chain of events, even just slightly. She just wanted her parents back. But Rei know that she wouldn't. It was pointless. Her own wishes were irrelevant to the world._

_As the deathstalker before her chittered and readied its stinger to claim her as its newest victim, her mind's eye saw Reo desperately rushing to her rescue only to be impeded by the other two deathstalkers in the room. She remembered someone screaming for her to move, but Rei was frozen. Her legs had lost all feeling, and the girl couldn't bring herself to look away from her mother's corpse._

**So cowardly when faced with danger. Your fellow villagers really were weak, weren't they? Look at them.**

_Time slowed to a crawl, but Rei didn't take heed of any of it. Her only focus was her mother, noting the stray lock of hair in front of her mother's left eye. Rei idly wondered if she should fix it out of the way. _

**LOOK AT THEM.**

_Rei winced. The voices' demands painfully bounced back and forth in her mind. Biting her lip, she turned her eyes to the scene behind her, again wishing things had played out differently. And the more she did, the more she chided herself. Such childish wishes did nothing for her._

_Whatever was left of the villagers all lay in bleeding shambles in every corner of the room. A fresh new wave of tears threatened to overwhelm her vision as she noted all the blood, the dismembered limbs, the gaping holes that peppered every other body. Some of the villagers were still alive, if barely, though they were more horrifying to watch--croaking or moaning in agony as they were. One was trying to crawl towards their severed leg, another lay screaming to the heavens as they had been reduced to a mere torso without arms, one trying to gasp for air only to choke on their own blood as the gash across their neck threatened to drain them of their life force in seconds._

**Useless. Useless. Useless. All of them.**

**A couple dozen lives lost just like that. And your father? A disgrace of a Huntsman. He couldn't protect any of you even with his strength. Useless.**

**You're ****weak and useless.**

_Rei pleaded for it all to end. She already knew how the rest of the hellish nightmare would unfold. She wished she wasn't just a little girl. Big girls never don't get nightmares. They're brave. They're strong._

**You are neither of those things. Don't kid yourself.**

_By the sounds of things, time had resumed its normal pace, but Rei managed to keep her eyes shut. Fat lot of good that did, as she could still see everything happen in her mind's eye. Her father would land a killing blow on one of the deathstalkers, but the other had circled around him, readying its wicked stinger. The one behind her lay in a heap of disintegrating grimmflesh, a smoking crater in the place of where its head should be. Rei assumed her father had utilised his semblance to kill it from afar like he had with the beringel._

_Oh, how it felt like her brain was turning to mush. Hot, churning mush. Rei wanted to scream it all out, but her vocal cords refused to function anymore. Her eyes felt dried out from all the crying, yet her cheeks felt raw from all the tears. Everything hurt, but everything felt far away at the same time._

**Your father is about to die.**

_She refused to look this time._

**He was far too weakened from the use of his semblance. Pity.**

_She tried blocking her ears from everything that came next, but the ugly sounds would still pervade her mind._

**Right though the stomach. The venom would have made it a slow, painful death, but pincers are sharp, see? Decapitations work faster. **

**It wanted to get to its meal. Look, Reiya, it's coming for you.**

_She hated this part too, even though she knew it wasn't how things ended. Her father had died taking down the last deathstalker with him, and she would later stumble her out of the storage room. She would find that the village eerily quiet save for the sounds of feeding grimm. The girl would then sneak her way to the boats and by dumb luck, sped her way across the lake to begin her new life as a travelling thief making ends meet for herself._

_But the voices always changed the memory at the very end. They always tortured her in one way or another. This time, it seemed, she'd be eaten alive by the deathstalker and though she knew very well that was not to be her fate, she would experience it as if it were real. The pincers would be real. The mandibles would be real. The stinger and its venom would be real._

_She felt invisible hands forcing her eyes open. Rei was helpless as the grimm closed the distance between the two. In that moment, Rei thought of the last time this had happened to her. It had been a giant nevermore, right? She had been kept alive as it picked her bones clean of flesh. Its beak had been so sharp._

_Then, Rei heard something, and it wasn't the voices. Nor was it the cries of the twisted deathstalker in front of her. She likened the noise to cracking glass, especially as the noise turned into an ear-splitting cacophony of something violently shattering._

"**_Ah, there you are, bondmate mine._**"

_Who was that? It didn't sound like the voices. No, it was too to distinguish, but it was unreadable at the same time. Then Rei saw its owner, that being a great shadow emerging from an odd void that stretched across her field of vision. The shadow was merely that. A shadow, with no clear features she could make out save for the two pinpricks of white she assumed to be its eyes._

_"Get away from me..." Rei rasped, scooting back some. The shadow didn't make to approach her. Only, it tilted its head as if curious. "Go. Away."_

"**_As much as I would normally adhere to your wishes, _****_I must refuse just this once. I am here to bring you home, partner mine."_**

_"I don't know you." Rei said carefully. "You're making the nightmare stop, so thank you. But you're scary too. Really scary."_

_A snort. **"Am I? Forgive me, Reiya, it was not my intention to intimidate you." **__She didn't attempt to respond to that, and the shadow continued. **"You seem to have forgotten me. How worrying."**_

_"You feel like that." Rei pointed to the deathstalker. _

**_"I am much more than this pathetic excuse of a grimm."_**

_"But..you are one..?"_

**_"I am _**more. _Nevertheless, we must return to the matter at hand. Please, partner mine, return to the waking world with me."_

_Rei was startled. "You can take me away from here, sir?"_

**_"And more. I will protect you. I will provide consul. You have my loyalty."_**

_"...How do I know you're not lying to me, sir? You can be like the voices. They want me to hurt. A lot."_

**_"I do not wish you harm, Reiya. Heed my words, as they are a promise."_**

_"...You feel a little different too." Rei managed to get to her feet, mindful of her late mother behind her. She tried not to pay the image any mind, nor the image behind the shadow. "You feel like the monster, but you feel a little like... us."_

**_"Human, you mean?"_**

_"I... guess so?" That was the best she could describe it. The shadow felt dangerous, very dangerous. But she somehow knew it felt like.. like it was alive. Not like the grimm. But it was also like the grimm. Everything was so confusing. So, so confusing._

**_"Another mark of growth, I would reckon. That aside, we must depart, Reiya. You need not suffer this nightmare any further."_**

_"...Okay. I'll go with you. But... if you hurt me, please make it quick. I'm really tired..."_

_Her words seem to stall the entity. Though, only for a moment. It slowly closed the distance between the two of them and lowered itself to her eye-level. Rei looked away at first, but something urged her to look again. And when she did, she was immediately filled with a sense of warmth and sanctuary. Without another word, she felt her strength failing her, and fell._

_She felt the shadow catch and hold her close. Her eyes struggled to stay open, especially with the warmth pervading her body._

**_"I would sooner reduce myself to one of the False Queen's mindless puppets before harming you. You are safe with me."_**

_"Can... Can you bring Mom and Dad with me? Please?"_

_The shadow paused and looked at her mother's corpse, then behind it at her father. The shadow then looked at her once more with a slow shake of its head. **"I cannot. Forgive me, Reiya."**_

_She started to cry again._

**_"You cannot return from the meeting with Death. Nor can you avoid Death altogether. Allow me to soothe your heart, Reiya. Although I know very little of your parents, I speak with the utmost confidence that they are watching over you with the greatest of pride. Their daughter has come very far from this day, and they would wish only for her to use her strength and courage to make the best of her life."_**

_She cried harder. Much more than before, even. Rei didn't register the shadow resting its muzzle on the top of her head._

**_"We must leave now.."_**

_"O-Okay...Bye Mom.. Bye Dad... I love you.." _

_She felt her word grow dark, all sense of feeling slowly filtering away to nothing. But it was comforting. It was an escape, she knew._

_"Thank you.."_

_Rei had to get that out before anything else. She didn't want to leave without letting the shadow know what he had done for her. It wouldn't sit well with her._

**_"Naturally, little one."_**

_Rei saw black._

_.._

**AN: I was on such a good roll when I started this chapter! Like you would not believe. I'll admit, it came out later than intended, my physical fatigue and writer's block rearing it's ugly head again, but here it is.**

**I also spent a good amount of time doing my best to proofread this one. Not like I didn't with past chapter's mind you, but this one felt extra special to me for whatever reason--**

**Nah, just joking. All to your responses made this chapter special to me. They truly did. I know it's not the longest chapter I've had (actually, do you all prefer shorter or longer chapters? Let me know!), around 8/9k compared to the 10-12/13k, but I wanted to set a pace for myself again. Especially since I'll finally be headed home soon, I don't want to be burned out between this special project of mine and trying to accustom myself to my flat again, and everyone with it.**

**I've noticed on my initial write up of this chapter that it's actually difficult to gauge the effectiveness of aura within the RWBY universe. In the show, it sometimes worked like a healing factor. Injury-heal, provided you had enough in your reserves. Sometimes, it was an outright shield like the lore depicts it to be--like some of the fights between the main cast, or during the spars in Beacon. Shield potential injury, especially with large aura reserves. But there's at least _one _consistency I've noticed when it comes to aura. Inertia still exists. Sure, you can outright deflect a bullet to the face, but I imagine the inertia would still follow through and give your brain a good shake, wouldn't it? Would be a nasty headache, that. I also don't understand why the characters don't keep their auras up all the time. Not full blast, but _just _enough to ward off surprise attacks leading to sustaining injury. It's supposed to be a shield, an extension of their souls. It seems so much like an unnecessary risk to mind the fact you'd have to reactivate your aura time and time again on the fly.**

**Anyway, hope you all find this chapter satisfying, haha. I'll be getting started on the next one tomorrow, I think, hopefully without writer's block. **

**Thank you all for taking the time to give this story a shot, and those of you who have left me both kind words and helpful criticism.**

**-sinsofone**

**_P.S. I fucking hate how every time I edit or upload a chapter, the fanfiction's mobile app does something like get rid of spaces between words or add gaps between paragraphs. Or how it undos some of the italics and bold I've got going. Annoying, annoying. Need to replace my laptop already. _**


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